Ethical Issues In Food, Agricultural And Apparel Industries

You are a spray applicator for a local co-op. Its been a wet Spring, work is backed up and farmer-clients are threatening to take their business somewhere else. One of the most vocal clients farms ground around an elementary school.  On the first good day in weeks, the client calls the branch manager and demands that his fields be sprayed that morning. The branch manager tells you to load up and go spray. When you get there, the playground is full of children and the wind is blowing at 30 mph. You call the branch manager to tell him the conditions are not suitable to spray. He responds that he doesn’t have any choice: it has to be sprayed.

1.  What two values are in conflict in this story, in your view?  

2.  What would you do?  Why?