Confidentiality-Bounded Public Safety Escalation Invoked in BER Case 96-8 Peer Review Context
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/93#Confidentiality-Bounded_Public_Safety_Escalation_Invoked_in_BER_Case_96-8_Peer_Review_Context
Properties
Instance of
Confidentiality-BoundedPublicSafetyEscalationinPeerReview
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#Confidentiality-BoundedPublicSafetyEscalationinPeerReview
Applied to
Engineer B Peer-Reviewed Engineer Subject to Safety Code Findings
Balancing with
Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement Obligation
Public Welfare Paramount
Concrete expression
Review Engineer A, bound by a confidentiality agreement as peer reviewer, discovered potential safety code violations in Engineer B's work; the Board held that public safety obligations override the confidentiality agreement, requiring Engineer A to first discuss with Engineer B, then warn of intent to report, and finally notify authorities if unresolved
Confidence
0.92
Importance
high
Interpretation
The confidentiality agreement assumed by a peer reviewer yields to the overriding public welfare obligation when genuine safety code violations are discovered; the sequencing of engagement-warning-reporting mirrors the collegial pre-reporting engagement principle
Invoked by
Review Engineer A Peer Review Safety Violation Discoverer
Tension resolution
Public safety obligation overrides confidentiality agreement; confidentiality becomes a secondary matter when genuine public danger exists
Source Evidence
Source text
the Board also disposed of the confidentiality issue, noting that if in fact there was truly a violation that posed a serious danger to the public health and safety, the confidentiality issue would become a secondary matter
Text references
Review Engineer A would have an obligation to inform Engineer B that as a professional engineer, Review Engineer A's only alternative is to notify and inform the proper authorities
a more appropriate action would be for Review Engineer A to expeditiously discuss these issues with Engineer B in an effort to seek clarification and early resolution of this issue
the Board also disposed of the confidentiality issue, noting that if in fact there was truly a violation that posed a serious danger to the public health and safety, the confidentiality issue would become a secondary matter
TTL
@prefix case93: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/93#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@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#> .
case93:Confidentiality-Bounded_Public_Safety_Escalation_Invoked_in_BER_Case_96-8_Peer_Review_Context a proeth:Confidentiality-BoundedPublicSafetyEscalationinPeerReview,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Confidentiality-Bounded Public Safety Escalation Invoked in BER Case 96-8 Peer Review Context" ;
proeth:appliedto "Engineer B Peer-Reviewed Engineer Subject to Safety Code Findings" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Peer Review Confidentiality Agreement Obligation",
"Public Welfare Paramount" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Review Engineer A, bound by a confidentiality agreement as peer reviewer, discovered potential safety code violations in Engineer B's work; the Board held that public safety obligations override the confidentiality agreement, requiring Engineer A to first discuss with Engineer B, then warn of intent to report, and finally notify authorities if unresolved" ;
proeth:confidence "0.92" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "93" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-28T15:16:44.979866+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "93" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-28T15:16:44.979866+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The confidentiality agreement assumed by a peer reviewer yields to the overriding public welfare obligation when genuine safety code violations are discovered; the sequencing of engagement-warning-reporting mirrors the collegial pre-reporting engagement principle" ;
proeth:invokedby "Review Engineer A Peer Review Safety Violation Discoverer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Confidentiality-Bounded Public Safety Escalation in Peer Review" ;
proeth:sourcetext "the Board also disposed of the confidentiality issue, noting that if in fact there was truly a violation that posed a serious danger to the public health and safety, the confidentiality issue would become a secondary matter" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Public safety obligation overrides confidentiality agreement; confidentiality becomes a secondary matter when genuine public danger exists" ;
proeth:textreferences "Review Engineer A would have an obligation to inform Engineer B that as a professional engineer, Review Engineer A's only alternative is to notify and inform the proper authorities",
"a more appropriate action would be for Review Engineer A to expeditiously discuss these issues with Engineer B in an effort to seek clarification and early resolution of this issue",
"the Board also disposed of the confidentiality issue, noting that if in fact there was truly a violation that posed a serious danger to the public health and safety, the confidentiality issue would become a secondary matter" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 93 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-28T15:27:04.021782"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 93 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
93
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-02-28T15:16:44.979866+00:00
First case
93
Generated
2026-02-28T15:16:44.979866+00:00
Attributed to
Case 93 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-28T15:27:04.021782
Generated by
ProEthica Case 93 Extraction