Case 17: Chiquita: An Excruciating Dilemma between Life and Law
1. Go to the ethical dilemma at the beginning of the case. Which position did you take and why?
Did your position change after you read the case?
I would not pay extortion money to a known terrorist group. When you negotiate with terrorists,
you not only fund future activities by that group but you also encourage ongoing kidnappings
2. Was Chiquita justified in making the extortion payments to protect its employees? Was the
company really between a rock and a hard place? What should it have done differently?
Arguably, Chiquita felt that it should do all that it could to protect the safety and welfare of its
employees, including making extortion payments to terrorist groups to prevent attacks on its
3. Using your knowledge of business ethics and global practices, what concepts, principles, or
ideas from your study have a bearing on this case? Explain how some of them might have guided
Chiquita toward better decisions.
As noted in question 1, you cannot negotiate with terrorist groups. This only encourages
additional terrorist activity, which is undesirable from an economic, legal, and ethical
4. What is your assessment of then-CEO Aguirre’s statements? Did he come across as sincere or
just making excuses?
I think the CEO was sincere. It comes down to a question of motivation—was the company
breaking U.S. law to fund terrorist organizations or was the company breaking U.S. law to
protect the safety and welfare of its employees? I am persuaded by the company’s statements
5. What is your analysis of the Chiquita Board of Director’s handling of this case? Do you think
selling the farms at a loss in Columbia was the right thing to do? Why?
I think that the board did the right thing when it sold the farms for a loss. While a board
member’s fiduciary duty requires him or her to maximize shareholder wealth, keeping the farms
6. If you were the judge in the consolidated case, what would you decide?
7. In the “tale of two companies,” which do you think is the real Chiquita and why?
I think the real Chiquita is the company that is trying to make a difference through socially
responsible initiatives and community partnerships. The company did have to make a difficult