43. Harold is the executive director of the Monessen Falls Dance Studio, a nonprofit, 501(c) (3) organization. While many of the dancers who participate in the programs of the Studio are women, the staff tend to be gay white males, like Harold. Harold tries to hire gay men, knowing that these individuals are often discriminated against when finding employment in traditional organizations, nonprofit or otherwise. Today, Harold is interviewing Tim, a candidate for the position of chief financial officer. Tim has an impressive résumé, and has served as the CFO for several arts-related nonprofits during a 20-year career. Harold knows that he cannot directly ask Tim if he is gay because of the limitations in the state human relations law. But he asks subtle questions that he expects will provide evidence about Tim’s sexual orientation. He thinks this is fine, since the intent is not to discriminate against anyone who is gay but just the opposite. Tim mentions that he and his wife were bringing up their two kids in a neighboring state, but that his wife recently took a position with the Monessen Community College. Harold, assuming that this indicated that Tim was not gay (although not necessarily the case), thanks Harold and decides not to hire him.
a. Is Harold being ethical?