Engineer A Faithful Agent Role Misapplication to Confidentiality Absolutism
O · Obligation
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/84#Engineer_A_Faithful_Agent_Role_Misapplication_to_Confidentiality_Absolutism
Properties
Instance of
FaithfulAgentRoleMisapplicationtoConfidentialityAbsolutismProhibitionObligation
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#FaithfulAgentRoleMisapplicationtoConfidentialityAbsolutismProhibitionObligation
Case context
Engineer A relied on the faithful agent and trustee relationship and the confidentiality agreement to justify not reporting electrical and mechanical code violations to public authorities, treating client loyalty as overriding the paramount public safety obligation.
Compliance status
unmet
Confidence
0.87
Importance
high
Obligated party
Engineer A
Obligation statement
Engineer A violated the prohibition on misapplying the faithful agent role by treating the client confidentiality agreement and 'as is' sale directive as requiring absolute non-disclosure, failing to recognize that the faithful agent role is bounded by the paramount public safety obligation and does not authorize suppression of known safety hazards.
Temporal scope
Throughout the professional engagement and upon client's refusal to remediate
Relationships
derivedFromPrinciple
Faithful Agent Obligation With in Ethical Limits Misapplied By Engineer A
Source Evidence
Source text
Engineers, in the performance of their professional services, act as 'agents' or 'trustees' to their clients. They are privy to a great deal of information and background concerning the business affairs of their client.
Text references
Engineers, in the performance of their professional services, act as 'agents' or 'trustees' to their clients. They are privy to a great deal of information and background concerning the business affairs of their client.
The Code of Ethics is clear on this point. Section I.1. employs the word 'paramount' to describe the obligation of the engineer with respect to the public health and safety.
The obligation of the engineer to refrain from revealing confidential information, data, facts concerning the business affairs of the client without consent of the client is a significant ethical obligation. We further believe that matters of public health and safety must take precedence.
TTL
@prefix case84: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/84#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix proeth-core: <http://proethica.org/ontology/core#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case84:Engineer_A_Faithful_Agent_Role_Misapplication_to_Confidentiality_Absolutism a proeth:FaithfulAgentRoleMisapplicationtoConfidentialityAbsolutismProhibitionObligation,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Engineer A Faithful Agent Role Misapplication to Confidentiality Absolutism" ;
proeth-core:competesWith case84:Engineer_A_Section_III.4_Client-Transmitted_Confidentiality_Engagement_Recognition ;
proeth-core:defeasibleUnder case84:Client_Relationship_Established_Under_Confidential_Structural_Engagement ;
proeth:casecontext "Engineer A relied on the faithful agent and trustee relationship and the confidentiality agreement to justify not reporting electrical and mechanical code violations to public authorities, treating client loyalty as overriding the paramount public safety obligation." ;
proeth:compliancestatus "unmet" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Obligation" ;
proeth:confidence "0.87" ;
proeth:derivedFromPrinciple case84:Faithful_Agent_Obligation_Within_Ethical_Limits_Misapplied_By_Engineer_A ;
proeth:discoveredincase "84" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-03-01T13:47:29.003693+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "84" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-03-01T13:47:29.003693+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:obligatedparty "Engineer A" ;
proeth:obligationclass "Faithful Agent Role Misapplication to Confidentiality Absolutism Prohibition Obligation" ;
proeth:obligationstatement "Engineer A violated the prohibition on misapplying the faithful agent role by treating the client confidentiality agreement and 'as is' sale directive as requiring absolute non-disclosure, failing to recognize that the faithful agent role is bounded by the paramount public safety obligation and does not authorize suppression of known safety hazards." ;
proeth:sourcetext "Engineers, in the performance of their professional services, act as 'agents' or 'trustees' to their clients. They are privy to a great deal of information and background concerning the business affairs of their client." ;
proeth:temporalscope "Throughout the professional engagement and upon client's refusal to remediate" ;
proeth:textreferences "Engineers, in the performance of their professional services, act as 'agents' or 'trustees' to their clients. They are privy to a great deal of information and background concerning the business affairs of their client.",
"The Code of Ethics is clear on this point. Section I.1. employs the word 'paramount' to describe the obligation of the engineer with respect to the public health and safety.",
"The obligation of the engineer to refrain from revealing confidential information, data, facts concerning the business affairs of the client without consent of the client is a significant ethical obligation. We further believe that matters of public health and safety must take precedence." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 84 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-03-01T13:56:58.177038"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 84 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
84
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-03-01T13:47:29.003693+00:00
First case
84
Generated
2026-03-01T13:47:29.003693+00:00
Attributed to
Case 84 Extraction
Generated
2026-03-01T13:56:58.177038
Generated by
ProEthica Case 84 Extraction