Let's see, we have the following conflicts of interest:

1. a staff member is personally "profiting" from the museum collection
2. the staff member receiving the goods is the one determining their value
(scientific, historical, applicability to museum's mission) to the museum
3. the staff member receiving the goods is the one declaring their monetary
value

At the very least, the IRS will be very interested in how the museum reports
its finances (those specimens are a financial transaction for the museum)
and also very interested in how the staff member reports his/her finances.
Whether there are other legalities to consider will depend on the structure
and nature of the museum/corporation.  It may or may not be able to sell its
specimens.  Finally, donors to the museum may not like the use to which the
museum is putting their donation, and may also want to know how their tax
write-off value compared to the value of the "payment" to the staff member.

No one in their right mind would want to be entangled in the legality and
morality fights than can erupt from this situation.  The museum's board
needs to know this.

just my 2 cents,
Robin K Panza                         [log in to unmask]
Collection Manager, Section of Birds          ph:  412-622-3255
Carnegie Museum of Natural History       fax: 412-622-8837
4400 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh  PA  15213-4008  USA

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