Ethics Scenario #110: Feed the Big Blue Marble Foundation

110. Juan is the international director for Feed the Big Blue Marble Foundation, an American-based nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that operates in 30 countries with the mission of alleviating hunger in areas devastated by natural disasters, civil wars, and political unrest, making efforts to avoid taking sides in political disputes. Juan receives a report from his director in Mali, Achmed, that a local village chieftain is blocking the organization’s convoy from passing through a road adjacent to his village and reaching residents of a nearby besieged village, and has demanded that the organization pay him the equivalent of $12,000 to let the trucks pass freely. Juan is a realist, and recognizes that this is how business is done in this part of the world. He approves the payment, and arranges to wire the money to a particular unnumbered account in Switzerland.

a. Is Juan’s behavior ethical?