Condoned: Definition, Example and Related Terms
What is a Condoned ?
In the world of business and commercial contracts, being 'Condoned' is when someone does something wrong or breaks a rule, but the person in charge or the other party in a contract decides to let it go. They might not be happy about it, but they choose not to take any action or punish the person for what they did. This is often because they think it's not worth the hassle or they believe it won't happen again. However, just because someone's actions are condoned once, it doesn't mean it will always be the case. If the same thing happens repeatedly, the person in charge or the other party might decide to take action.
Example(s)
Scenario Description Suppose you own a company and have a contract with another business to deliver goods to you every week. One week, the delivery is a day late. Because you have a good relationship with the other business and they've always been reliable before, you might choose to condone the late delivery. You might tell them it's not a big deal and you understand that sometimes things happen that are out of their control. In this example, condoning is the act of forgiving or overlooking the breach of contract (late delivery) by the other business. You're not happy that the delivery was late, but you decide not to take any action or impose any penalties because you believe it was a one-off incident. Imagine you work in a software company and you’ve signed a contract with a client for a software development project. Your team missed a milestone in the project timeline, but the client condones it because they understand that software development can often face delays and they value the quality work your team is doing. In this example, the client is condoning the missed milestone in the contract. They're choosing not to enforce penalties or end the contract despite the breach, because they value the overall relationship and the quality of work being done.