THE ETHICIST TAP : ( Q )

 

[ Q } : CAN taking money as a volunteer be an appropriate thing to do?  

My husband is a physician and volunteers extensively at a rural clinic for uninsured patients. He recently won a local award for his service there.

Around the same time, the large non-profit hospital where we both work informed him that they had overpaid him for the past two years and will reduce his future pay to recover the difference.

But they very generously offered to lower the repayment amount based on the number of days he spends volunteering at the clinic - essentially paying him for this work.

IF WE agreed, we would donate back to the clinic the amount the hospital ''pays'' him; financially we'd be fine, and we'd be helping the clinic. Even so, my husband doesn't want to be paid for something he regards as volunteer work.

Because he recently won the award, we also worry that if word got out about his being paid for the work, it might smear his good name.

Yet the clinic would benefit from such a large donation and wouldn't thank us for turning down the hospital's money on principle. What to do?

[Name Withheld]

The Publishing continues to {A]. The World Students Society thanks Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah.