No.  YOU can't.  It's not any of your business. 
Address the issue not the name of the participant.

Now, as to the issue, it seems to me, as a lay person,
there are some serious ethical considerations.  The
person asking the original question is being asked to
provide speculative advice to someone interested in
purchasing works of art that could conceivably fall
into the hands of the museum, and it appears that is
the ulterior motive of the ED.  

However, we've seen the rise and fall of value in
various items through time.  Suppose the curator tells
someone to purchase a piece of art because it is going
to be valuable through time, and the value doesn't
materialize.  Does the "professional advice" of the
curator then subject him and/or the institution to
some liability in that regard for profits not realized
and, if that is the case, who will bear that
liability?

Since museum professionals seem to come and go over
time, and this is a young person (presumably based on
the original post), where will the evidence be to
absolve him from damage and render him whole?  Would
the ED be willing to put this "demand" in writing,
indicating this was an employment directive, and not
some loose-cannon issue on his part.  Even if in
writing, would this still absolve him from potential
harm?

Further, it poses a real compromising position for the
person who asked the question.  A new employee wanting
to make his/her mark is going to be in a difficult
position to tell the ED (s)he can't do such things,
and still expect to progress in the career path
without possible recriminations, either in the form of
performance appraisal or compensation, and possibly
both.  This, as described, is a venerable institution,
and the employee is not yet proven.  It's an unfair
position in which to put the individual.

Finally, it's a something-for-nothing proposition the
ED is putting the employee in.  Is what is being
requested contained in the job description of the
employee (most big, long time established institutions
would have these)?  If I were a doctor in my past
life, but now working as a gardener and being paid as
a gardener, would it be reasonable for the ED to
expect me to give medical advice?  An art appraiser
would be the best person to give such advice, not the
curator.

Again, stick to the issue at hand and leave the ID of
the person responding alone--especially when your ID
is significantly less identifiable, and your answers
terse and condescending.  If you can't offer
substantiation for your commentary, excuse yourself
from the issue and find something where you can offer
help.



--- unlisted <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> since we have been down this road before about
> online ID, and i notice 
> everyone addressing this query as if they know the
> person. may one ask if 
> the name provided is really the person's name?



Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]

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