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Yahoo Board Director Patti Hart Stepping Down Over Thompson Scandal

Posted by Unknown on from the sealed-fate dept.

concertina226 writes "Yahoo has announced that board member Patti Hart, who led the committee that hired CEO Scott Thompson, will be stepping down. Hart has been under fire for overseeing the hiring of Thompson, whose resume wasn't fully vetted. I know some of you on Slashdot think that Scott Thompson didn't do anything wrong by claiming he had a computer science degree on his CV when he doesn't, but don't you think it's kind of weird that the guy who lied gets to keep his job as CEO, yet this director is being made a scapegoat? It just sends out the message that it's cool to pretend to have qualifications that you don't have."

96 comments

  1. Seems typical, actually. by Grygus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Surely you do not expect that a CEO will be held to account?

    1. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Informative

      He probably will in due time.

      Ms Hart's problem was that she was put in charge of making sure his history was on the up-and-up, and she screwed up in a big way, potentially costing a metric ton of money to the company (the bulk of that loss going towards some golden parachute that Thompson likely has in his contract.) Long story short, she kinda had it coming for failing to do due diligence. It's not like they were hiring a new janitor - they were hiring the frickin' CEO. Microscopic vetting and researching of a candidate's background is pretty much a normal thing for that position, and the board has to do it - you don't trust that kind of work for that kind of position to HR drones.

      I figure Thompson may get fired, but they probably want to do it in a way that doesn't touch off lawsuits, or force them to pay out whatever severance money is listed in the contract. Yeah, I know that lies in the resume would normally count as a big reason why one can get fired with cause, but I don't know the details of his contract, and maybe the causes are limited to some list, with no one thinking that bullshitting on the resume would be one of those causes.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    2. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why would they lose any money on this. Either the man can do the job or he can't. Obviously, he's lasted this long, so he can't be too stupid.

    3. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone needs to mod you funny.

    4. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 1

      >> the bulk of that loss going towards some golden parachute
      that Thompson likely has in his contract.

      If he lied on his resume, he won't be parachuting back to earth.

    5. Re:Seems typical, actually. by rudy_wayne · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Long story short, she kinda had it coming for failing to do due diligence.

      Nobody likes lying, and it's pretty hard to defend someone who gets caught telling a lie, but, do you really believe that Yahoo hired Scott Thompson because they thought he had a CS degree, from 1979, from some tiny college that nobody has heard of? And the only reason that any of this has come up in the first place is because of a guy who wants a seat on the Yahoo board of directors, but can't get it, so he decides to dig up whatever dirt he can for the sole purpose of embarrassing Yahoo.

      Of course, if the Yahoo board had done their homework, they would have caught this and saved themself some embarrassment.

    6. Re:Seems typical, actually. by hondo77 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ...so he decides to dig up whatever dirt he can...

      Did you really call the truth "dirt"? Really?

      --
      I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
    7. Re:Seems typical, actually. by AtomicJake · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Long story short, she kinda had it coming for failing to do due diligence.

      Nobody likes lying, and it's pretty hard to defend someone who gets caught telling a lie, but, do you really believe that Yahoo hired Scott Thompson because they thought he had a CS degree, from 1979, from some tiny college that nobody has heard of?

      No, but do you want a CEO (who is also responsible for all employees) who lied in his CV and got caught? Isn't this lie "unethical" behavior and cannot be tolerated in a public company?

    8. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Imrik · · Score: 1

      That is generally what we mean when we use the phrase 'digging up dirt on someone.' Lies don't work nearly as well.

    9. Re:Seems typical, actually. by mypalmike · · Score: 1

      The best "dirt" is true. Otherwise, it's not nearly so dirty.

      --
      There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
    10. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Once again, slowly, because some people seem to be slow picking up the point.

      The problem is not that he does not have a CS degree. The problem is that he wilfully and knowingly lied to the board and to the company. You may have no problem with a CEO you cannot trust. If I was on that board, I most certainly would.

    11. Re:Seems typical, actually. by CaptainLugnuts · · Score: 1

      That damn CEO should be fired with cause just like any one else in the company that lied on their resume. It's a standard HR clause that says you can and will be fired for lying on your application.

    12. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not certain that the CEO goes through the same hiring process as ground troops. . . I'm willing to bet that there's more to their applications than 3 references and a resume. Just a thought.

    13. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      He lied on his resume. He didn't exagerate or fudge a little, he flat out lied. The fact that so many here are okay with that is astounding. If he'll lie on his resume he'll lie on the balance sheet and to stock holders and anybody else he needs to lie to to get ahead.

    14. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I don't think anyone believes that they hired him based on a 1979 degree. However, they also didn't hire him because he is a good liar!

    15. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      The director was tasked with vetting him and screwed up, and it turns out the director's academic career was also exaggerated (initially reported but I haven't seen much follow up on that point).

    16. Re:Seems typical, actually. by udoschuermann · · Score: 1

      Of course he will be held accountable. I'm sure he'll take it well: http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2005-06-30/

      --
      --Udo.
    17. Re:Seems typical, actually. by n7ytd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nobody likes lying, and it's pretty hard to defend someone who gets caught telling a lie, but, do you really believe that Yahoo hired Scott Thompson because they thought he had a CS degree, from 1979, from some tiny college that nobody has heard of?

      No, they probably didn't hire him for his CS degree, so why did he feel it necessary to fabricate one? The issue is not if he has a CS degree or not; being a CEO doesn't require knowledge of spanning trees. He probably is a very capable manager-- after all he got this far, right?

      No one comes up smelling like a rose here: the CEO looks like a doofus for fabricating such an easily-debunked lie (or allowing a mistake to propagate, if we want to be generous). The board at large looks like a bunch of doofuses for not bothering to have a secretary make a 5-minute phone call to every institution in his CV. The guy who wants a seat on the board looks like a whiny nit-picker who is just looking for an angle to get leverage for his own agenda.

      The real issue, in my mind, is that if a Chief Officer of a billion dollar company can't be bothered to be ethical about such a stupid, tiddly detail, how can he be trusted to be honest about more weighty matters? Getting this detail wrong in filings to the SEC is at best a lack of fact-checking and at worst flat-out perjury. Who's to say the same guy would not cook the balance sheets or lie to investors?

      If all we can go on is his track record (since his qualifications don't seem to matter), this is a piss-poor first entry in his yet-to-be written record as CEO.

    18. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Reality+Master+301 · · Score: 2

      Golden (19.3 g/cm3) parachute? Is that anything like concrete floaties?

    19. Re:Seems typical, actually. by steelfood · · Score: 1

      More often than not, the truth is dirty.

      For the idealistic and naive, it's abhorring. For the realistic, it's how things get done.

      Despite what they say of age and cynicism, there are more idealistic and naive people out there. At the least, there are plenty of people willing to feign outrage for an ulterior motive and often less savory outcome. Just look at U.S. politics these days.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    20. Re:Seems typical, actually. by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

      "Golden" only means having the appearance of gold. This could be achieved by painting a regular parachute with gold paint. Of course, an actual gold parachute at a thickness above gold leaf could be a problem.

    21. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Reality+Master+301 · · Score: 1

      Whooosh! (also: from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden "Golden means made of, or relating to gold."

    22. Re:Seems typical, actually. by colinrichardday · · Score: 1

      So the golden ratio and golden mean are made out of gold? Relating to gold could mean having the appearance of gold.

    23. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If companies fired CEOs for unethical behavior, most of the S&P 500 would be going without leadership.

    24. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Duhavid · · Score: 1

      Not for long, and then we would have some ethical and some uncaught leadership.

      Spin around that loop a few billion times, and we will have fewer unethical leaders.

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    25. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Comrade+Ogilvy · · Score: 1

      It is the same story as Mark Hurd. Hurd's sin was minor of the scale of things, but it appeared that he blatantly lied on something small and expected that he would never be held accountable because he was Mark Hurd.

      If CEO does not lead by example, it is whatever you can get away, always, all the way down the chain. I suppose there are a number of companies where such is actually true. But the board of directors cannot not look the other way when under the bright lights of public scrutiny and expect to keep their cushy position.

    26. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly right. He's a perfect fit. Why are you sticking up for this guy anyway?

    27. Re:Seems typical, actually. by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      It seems they are getting a little bit more heated up about this issue than you would normally expect. Perhaps Patti had focused due diligence on Scott's other endowments more than his intellect. Hiring "Terry Bird of the law firm Bird, Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks and Licenberg, which is is said to specialise in litigation and internal investigations", sounds like some sort of collusory action going on here. First year income $1 million plus $2 million bonus if approved by the board and $1.5 million cash bonus and a restricted stock award valued at $6.5 million (there's plenty of room for an inverse bonus in there). Not bad first year salary, not that would certainly pay quite for some canoodling.

      Once you get up to huge US corporate executive salaries and collusory board rooms there is ample room for all sorts of corrupt practices. Salary kick backs, you vote me and I'll vote you, you employ me and I'll employ your family and or company.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    28. Re:Seems typical, actually. by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      If he lied on his resume, he won't be parachuting back to earth.

      I am pretty sure that most positions of that level have clauses in them around criminal acts and the like. While it may seem a stretch, lying on your CV may be considered fraud, therefore he got into the job by defrauding the company (whether or not they should have picked it up) and that might be enough to show him the door. Having said that, I dare say that Yahoo will no doubt wait till some of this dust has settled then try to usher in a "quiet" passing of the baton to the next CEO.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
  2. or perhaps... by notgm · · Score: 2

    ...perhaps it sends the message that what you are able to do, and what you continue to do effectively is more important than what on-paper tests you've passed.

    the board member did not effectively research the candidate...whether or not the CEO works out in the end is of no consequence.

    1. Re:or perhaps... by Idbar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The message is simple, even though I don't agree with it:
      "The ends justify the means"

      Why wouldn't you want someone like that as a CEO?

    2. Re:or perhaps... by donaggie03 · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...perhaps it sends the message that what you are able to do, and what you continue to do effectively is more important than what on-paper tests you've passed.

      By that logic, the board member selected a candidate for CEO who ended up being successful at it; and therefore did her job effectively. Shouldn't that be more important that what on-paper test the other guy passed?

      --
      Three days from now?? Thats tomorrow!! ~Peter Griffin
    3. Re:or perhaps... by Patch86 · · Score: 1

      The CEO clearly disagrees with you, seeing as he jeopardised his career, reputation and company by making up a fictional on-paper test that he fictionally passed.

      You can't have it both ways on that one (any more than any of the other both-way situations in this thread); either a degree on your CV is important enough to fake and be fired for, or it's worthless and not worth thinking about.

    4. Re:or perhaps... by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

      Because his desired ends might not be the company's desired ends.

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    5. Re:or perhaps... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Because his "ends" are likely the enrichment of himself alone, and his "means" may involve knifing me in the back.

  3. i have a mba from harvard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and if you don't believe it your fired!

    1. Re:i have a mba from harvard by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Actually, in this case, it would be more like: "...and if you believe that, you're fired!"

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  4. Give it time. by alexander_686 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not that their firing a scapegoat, it is that it takes longer to fire the CEO.

    And I don’t care if he has a Accounting or CS degree. What matters is his leadership abilities, which means setting the tone for values and ethics, which it looks like he is failing at.

    1. Re:Give it time. by synapse7 · · Score: 2

      Setting a tone for values and ethics? I doubt that is any part of CEO101. Aslo, its only cool as long as somebody else gets sacrificed.

    2. Re:Give it time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I care if he does not have a CS degree and also has the final say on whether or not to sue other companies based on patent violations. He does not have to be an expert but has to be able to discern what the experts are telling him. I trust someone with a CS degree to do that better than an accountant.

    3. Re:Give it time. by msobkow · · Score: 1

      There is also the little issue that regardless of whether someone lied on an application, failure to do your due diligence means that you need more than a bad resume to get rid of someone after they've worked more than a year in most jurisdictions. You need a cause for firing people after a certain amount of time.

      Even if an employee hasn't reached "tenure", most companies are very wary of letting someone go who lied during the application process, even if they've proven to be incompetent. I've worked for one company that paid out a full six month contract after realizing three weeks into it that the contractor was a fraud. But even frauds can sue for wrongful dismissal, and they didn't want the media headache of a public lawsuit in order to get rid of the guy.

      How much more media furor would there be if you tried to fire a CEO without a clear cut case of incompetence or fraud?

      True, he lied on his resume. He should be fired for it if there is any justice in the world. But business, industry, and law are not about justice -- they're about profit and law.

      I don't expect Yahoo will try to fire him until/unless they've got a long laundry list of specifically incompetent actions they can use as an excuse to get rid of the CEO. And even then, it's going to cost them, because they've got contractually-obligated "golden parachute" clauses to pay out.

      As the bad resume would not be part of the actual signed employment contract or offer letters, the job contract itself cannot be considered invalid because of the bad resume. That means a flaw with the contract or performance as stipulated in the contract have to be found before the contract could be terminated without penalties.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    4. Re:Give it time. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Business school (a.k.a. "CEO101") involves coursework that delves quite deeply into ethics.

      *** The more you know. ***

    5. Re:Give it time. by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      In the same way, I presume, that Navy flight school (or whatever they call it where they train the fighter pilots) involves simulated flying against $BAD_GUYS air combat models...

    6. Re:Give it time. by pla · · Score: 1

      You need a cause for firing people after a certain amount of time.

      Not in most of the US, you don't.

      Now, executives generally work under an actual contract (how else would they spell out the terms of their golden parachute?), so the same at-will employment laws they lord over their peons don't really apply to them. But "length of employ" doesn't mean as much as most people thing it does.

      Simple example, I always get a kick out of "probationary" periods in at-will states... "So for the next six months, you can terminate me at any time for no reason at all; after which, you can terminate me at any time for no reason at all?" - Most HR people laugh when I point that out to them, and I once received the entirely reasonable explanation that if you make people think they have less rights up front, the real losers put up less of a fuss when you send them packing. So basically all just simple mind-games.

  5. Call me cynical by Billly+Gates · · Score: 2

    ... but shouldn't the person who actually committed the dishonesty be shown the door?

    Oh thats right. He is the CEO!

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
    1. Re:Call me cynical by Shatrat · · Score: 1

      I suspect he's got a contract that would let him take millions of dollars with him if they showed him the door. Yahoo might still be looking for a way to get rid of him without paying through the nose.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    2. Re:Call me cynical by alexander_686 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Maybe yes, maybe no. Most “Golden Parachutes” have a cause that you get nothing if you are fired for cause or moral failure. Lying on your resume has been used before to revoke the payout clause.

  6. Yesterday's Jam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Denholm: I'm gonna put you in I.T. because you said on your CV you have a lot of experience with computers.
    Jen: I did say that on my CV, yes. I have a lot of experience with the whole computer thing you know, emails, sending emails, receiving emails, deleting emails, I could go on.
    Denholm: Do.
    Jen: The web. Using a mouse, mices, using mice. Clicking, double clicking. The computer screen, of course. The keyboard. The... bit that goes on the floor down there.
    Denholm: The hard drive.
    Jen: Correct.
    Denholm: Well, you certainly seem to know your stuff. That's settled. I've got a good feeling about you Jen and they need a new manager.
    Jen: Fantastic, so the people I'll be working with, what are they like?
    Denholm: Standard nerds!

    1. Re:Yesterday's Jam by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

      Laugh all you want, but a lot of IT management were actually accounting types back in the '80s and early '90s. They were put in charge of the computers because back then, they were the biggest users of the things. Even at my last job, the Head of IT reported directly to the CFO, and it's apparently pretty common for that chain of command elsewhere.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  7. Well if they would have fully vetted the cv by Coeurderoy · · Score: 1

    the result might well have been that they would still have hired the guy, but would have avoided to publish an incorrect CV and then the "scandal" would not have been:
    "thomson lied to get hired by Yahoo", but
    "thomson's cv x years ago was not fully correct", but since he did a job that we think is "good enough at the previous position" we still want him...

    So Patti Hart is not fired over "getting the wrong guy in" but over "not doing her homework to make sure that the guy they choose would fit in and be able to do his work without generating a scandal just at the begining..."

    so it make some kind of sense actually...

    1. Re:Well if they would have fully vetted the cv by slew · · Score: 1

      Perhaps if the Yahoo Board would have fully vetted Ms Hart's CV, the result might have been that the Yahoo board would have still hired her as a director.

      In case you didn't know Ms Hart is currently the CEO of IGT and claimed to have a Economics and Marketing Degree, but actually only had a generic Business Administration degree. So given that she fudged it on her own resume, she likely didn't put much weight into checking out the degree situation when vetting a job candidate (e.g., she was blinded by her own perspective).

      In any case, I'm guessing the behind the curtain situation is that the IGT board basically told her, we don't care how much money you are getting from moon-lighting job at Yahoo, but if you don't stop wasting your time with that Yahoo mess and pay attention to your day job, you might find that if/when the spotlight starts to point at our backyard, we'll end up having to do something with your situation here and that'll suck for everyone at IGT.

    2. Re:Well if they would have fully vetted the cv by Coeurderoy · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the info :-), It's hilarious, well I guess IGT is in an ideal situation to understand casino economy and it makes perfect sense to invite them to join the directorship of yahoo :-)
      Will they replace her with somebody from bally ?

  8. Hart must have pissed people off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Members of the board must have really disliked Hart and were waiting for any opportunity to eject her. If they had liked her or thought her to be valuable, they would have ridden out the controversy.

    1. Re:Hart must have pissed people off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wrong. She was responsible and got what she deserved (which is merely a non-renewal of her next contract, not a firing). If a background check can't verify a degree, then what's the point? Thompson won't survive this, it's far too embarrassing and Yahoo has too many problems already to be willing to add this to the pile.

    2. Re:Hart must have pissed people off by alexander_686 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Independent board members have a pretty short list of duties.

      Hiring (and compensating) the CEO is one. Like picking a partner for marriage, it is an infrequent decision that has big impacts. And it’s not like it was a subjective decision that can only be evaluated in hindsight. It was a simple, objective part of the hiring process which she failed at. If you have a single marjor duty to do, make sure you do it well.

      Audit committee is the other.

      Short does not mean unimportant. If shareholder democracy is going to work, they have to nail these 2.

  9. Alpha Dog by StikyPad · · Score: 5, Funny

    don't you think it's kind of weird that the guy who lied gets to keep his job as CEO, yet this director is being made a scapegoat?

    Speaking as someone with a Masters of Social Science, Juris Doctor, and PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics/Cosomolgy, I see no problem with this whatsoever. After all, if someone who's qualified to issue himself a degree isn't good enough to be CEO, then who is?

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    1. Re:Alpha Dog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know if it's as equally humorous that this was modded as "Interesting" opposed to the intended humor, or just disparaging.

    2. Re:Alpha Dog by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

      Many mods give "interesting" instead of "funny" because funny does not earn the posting any karma points.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  10. Fitting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess her Hart is no longer really in it...

  11. Patti Hart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is the same Patti Hart that ran Excite@Home into the ground.

    1. Re:Patti Hart by Dahamma · · Score: 2

      Actually, it's the same Patti Hart who was thrown under the bus by AT&T and the E@H board when at Excite@Home.

      Jermoluk (@Home's CEO) and George Bell (Excite's CEO) ran the company into the ground (along with AT&T, who screwed E@H at the last minute by pulling promised funding - to the tune of an eventual $350M settlement against them!). Patti was hired after all of the actual bad decisions were made and the end was inevitable - her biggest mistake was being naive enough to take the job.

      And now she has the dubious distinction of being a scapegoat for not one, but two irrelevant search engine companies!

  12. Executive Summary by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 0

    The rules (of law or otherwise) do not apply to the rich. More seriously: she was no doubt given a large pile of cash to take a bullet.

  13. Because ... by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... lying is part of the job description of a good CEO. Writing code isn't. So Thompson has proven his qualifications. Hart, on the other hand, was given the job of doing a background check on candidates for that job. And she failed.

    It could have been worse. Someone like Patti might have inadvertently let an honest person slip into a companies executive suite. And that would be a real tragedy.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Because ... by jklovanc · · Score: 1

      ... lying is part of the job description of a good CEO. Writing code isn't. So Thompson has proven his qualifications.

      I see this as Thompson failing as he lied about an easily verifiable fact and was caught. Anyone can lie but CEOs have to lie well; Thompson failed at that.

    2. Re:Because ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, the proof of one's leadership is the ability to lie and then not have your followers call you on it. The bigger the lie/easier the verification, the better a leader you are if you are not abandoned by your faithful.

      Its the principle upon which religion is based. Particularly the kind where its founder practically admits that its a con, sets it up and the believers still don't abandon him.

  14. Business as usual by Tridus · · Score: 0

    CEOs are judged by a different set of standards then the grunts are. In that we expect the average preson to be responsible, truthful, and generally a decent guy.

    On the other hand CEOs have carte blanche to be lying cheating backstabbing assholes, up to and including destroying the company (or the economy) and getting a golden handshake for their trouble.

    It's an interesting standard.

    --
    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    1. Re:Business as usual by xlsior · · Score: 1

      It's the golden rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules.

  15. What will it be next? by Jodka · · Score: 0

    Scott Thompson does not really have a CS degree? Elizabeth Warren is not really a Native American?

    If this trend in falsifying credentials continues, how long before the revelations that Rich Kyanka did not really attend Turtle Mountain Community College?

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature.
    1. Re:What will it be next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Try not to link to hate sites run by psychos. If you can't find a better source than Hot Air, it's not true.

    2. Re:What will it be next? by KlomDark · · Score: 1

      Next they will find out that I don't actually have that GED in CS that I put on my resume.

      Dammit, it worked when I got that job at PayPal while Scott was there...

      Now what I am I gonna do? Any ideas?

  16. They want to avoid golden parachute payouts by Tanman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If I had to guess, the board is checking to see if they can nullify the contract due to fraud before firing the guy. But that's just my guess.

  17. For years... by OldGunner · · Score: 3, Funny

    I used to list University of South Vietnam, School of Combat Operations on my resume.

    --
    Vietnam Veteran / Former Postal Worker -- Use Caution When Taunting!
  18. Poorly written article. by mycroft822 · · Score: 2

    FTFA: "Hart, CEO of International Game Technology, a gaming machine manufacturer, told the Yahoo board that the board asked her to step down from her seat." She is CEO of IGT, and the IGT board of directors are the ones that asked her to resign from Yahoo because it is a huge distraction.

    //Full disclosure: I work at IGT

  19. Cool by jdavidb · · Score: 1

    It just sends out the message that it's cool to pretend to have qualifications that you don't have.

    Suppose some people think it is cool to do this, and you don't. I suppose that they should be able to express their opinion, and you should be able to express your opinion. Some people think those qualifications are worthless or not "cool," and I think they should be able to express that feeling as well.

    And I'd like to send the message that Yahoo should be allowed to do whatever it wants internally, and anyone who doesn't like it can just not use Yahoo, or buy a piece of it and try to change it.

    --
    Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
  20. Worthless degree by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "it's cool to pretend to have qualifications that you don't have"

    When you're talking about a CS degree, yeah, pretty much. I've managed to climb the ladder as a sysadmin without one, and I am not alone. Additionally, I have noticed over the years that the complete screw-ups and useless layabouts are generally college-educated dude-bros, who spend every free moment polishing their "Computer Science" degree.

    Higher education has its place, and I would not be at all comfortable going under the knife of a self-taught surgeon, but there's a damn good reason why most jobs that "require" a CS degree, especially at the senior level, prefer experience to education /every single time/.

  21. someone is butt hurt by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 0

    I don't see why people are getting so upset because he *may* keep his job and lied about his qualifications. The lie is relatively minor really. I know someone is probably crying because they had to pay the money for the thing he's claiming for free. But just remember the amount of hours of hard work and possibly even over time someone had to do to gain X years of experience and you're effectively taking that away from them by exaggerating on your CV.

    but then again who cares. If a person does a job well then why should it matter if they lied about their experience or their degree. All that matters is how it affects my company. I find it ironic that CS degree holders are so upset when, from my experience, people in technology seem far more likely to lie on their CVs about tools and technologies they've used.

  22. Patti Hart lied on her resume too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Stories are that Patti Hart also falsified her educational credentials too:
    bloomberg.com - Questioning Hart's Background

    "Loeb said that Patti Hart, a Yahoo board member who chairs the search committee, inflated her degree too. Hart, who also serves as CEO of International Game Technology (IGT), is listed in filings as holding a “bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics” from Illinois State University, Loeb said. “However, we understand that Ms. Hart’s degree is in business administration. She received a degree in neither marketing nor economics.” "

  23. Easy decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Falsifying information on an application is grounds for termination whether the requisite skill or education was required for the role or not. I'm sure Yahoo has terminated people for this is in the past, they should look to prior precedent and the decision will be easy...

  24. If you lie about a degree your fired, unless CEO? by perpenso · · Score: 1, Informative

    ...perhaps it sends the message that what you are able to do, and what you continue to do effectively is more important than what on-paper tests you've passed. the board member did not effectively research the candidate...whether or not the CEO works out in the end is of no consequence.

    If you, I, or the next poster lied about a degree then we would most likely be fired. Our ability to do the job would be irrelevant. If we were very lucky we would be allowed to re-apply for the job with an accurate resume/cv. I agree that degrees are not strictly necessary. Some *very rare* individuals can learn the same lessons on their own, although nearly all who believe that they can do so are mistaken, and for some things on the job experience can be roughly equivalent. The real intended lesson of automatic termination is never falsify your application. Employers rightfully want a very high price to be associated with such falsification.

    Has Yahoo followed this very common policy of instantly terminating anyone who falsified their application? Why does the CEO get a pass compared to all other employees [/sarcasm]? That is the real question that this controversy raises.

  25. Josha by tekrat · · Score: 0

    Computer Science. Interesting game. The only winning move is not to play.

    If ever there was a model for how the 1% differ from the 99%, this is it. This jackass can LIE on his resume to become CEO of a major corporation, and you bet he's getting paid more per month than I make in a year. Furthermore, even when he's "let go", he'll walk away with the GDP of small nations. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of his days. FOR LYING.

    The rest of us would be tossed out on the street, with a warning that we're lucky we're not in jail.

    Seriously, what a fucked up world we are living in.

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
    1. Re:Josha by a90Tj2P7 · · Score: 1

      Computer Science. Interesting game. The only winning move is not to play.

      If ever there was a model for how the 1% differ from the 99%, this is it. This jackass can LIE on his resume to become CEO of a major corporation, and you bet he's getting paid more per month than I make in a year. Furthermore, even when he's "let go", he'll walk away with the GDP of small nations. Enough to live comfortably for the rest of his days. FOR LYING.

      The rest of us would be tossed out on the street, with a warning that we're lucky we're not in jail.

      Seriously, what a fucked up world we are living in.

      The one little hole in this is that you're acting like a CS degree from the 70's was the reason he got the job. Odds are, no one involved in the hiring process thought it was important enough to look into or consider. He has the job because of his experience and work history, now what he went to school for before I (and likely you) were born. You don't become the CEO of a company like Yahoo by replying to a Monster posting and giving a couple references, you do it by being able to show decades of work history and leadership experience. While I agree that there should be consequences for lying on his resume, I think it's important to keep how much of a footnote that actually is in context. It's like someone in their 30's lying about their high school GPA.

  26. Yes. by loshwomp · · Score: 1

    don't you think it's kind of weird that the guy who lied gets to keep his job as CEO, yet this director is being made a scapegoat?

    Yes. If it's not serious enough to take action against the CEO, then taking action against the person who hired him is nuts.

  27. Some people take Yahoo seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please, the moment Yahoo refused to sellout to Microsoft was proof enough that they were too incompetent for the task of being a corporate giant. Their news are bias and terrible, and Chris Chase is a name that one should not utter anywhere. It's almost a curse.

  28. You don't have to guess by alexander_686 · · Score: 2

    "Yahoo! Board of Directors Forms Special Committee to Review CEO Academic Credentials"
    http://pressroom.yahoo.net/pr/ycorp/233689.aspx?link_page_rss=233689

    Can't add much more to the headline - expect this is generally the first step in firing the CEO..

  29. Qualifications? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love how the original poster seems to feel it's important to point out how this guy supposedly has no qualifications, but I think the proper term would be no education to back up these qualifications. I myself have a ton of qualifications and know many who'd agree to that, yet I never went to highschool.

  30. Re:Worthless Human PEON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "it's cool to pretend to have qualifications that you don't have"

    When you're talking about a CS degree, yeah, pretty much. I've managed to climb the ladder as a CEO without one, and I am not alone. Additionally, I have noticed over the years that the complete screw-ups and useless layabouts are generally NON-college-educated dude-bros, who spend every free moment polishing their "High School" degree.

    Experience has its place, and I would not be at all comfortable going under the knife of a self-taught surgeon, but there's a damn good reason why most jobs that "require" a HONEST PERSON, especially at the senior level, prefer WHO YOU KNOW to EXPERIENCE /every single time/.

  31. Re:Josha THE CEO IS A Fucking LIAR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HE MOSTLY LiKELY LIED ABOUT HIS JOB EXPERIECE!

    he mostly likely lied about his job experience

  32. KITH! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As a Canadian, I have to say that every time I read "Scott Thompson", I think it's cool that a Kids in the hall guy is running Yahoo and I hope that he's dressed as the queen.

  33. Re:If you lie about a degree your fired, unless CE by n7ytd · · Score: 2

    If you, I, or the next poster lied about a degree then we would most likely be fired. [...] The real intended lesson of automatic termination is never falsify your application. Employers rightfully want a very high price to be associated with such falsification.

    Has Yahoo followed this very common policy of instantly terminating anyone who falsified their application? Why does the CEO get a pass compared to all other employees [/sarcasm]? That is the real question that this controversy raises.

    I can't wait to see the CEO brought up in the first wrongful dismissal lawsuit. Maybe I will try to get myself hired at Yahoo, and then when I get fired after it comes to light that I do not have the 5 Ph.D. degrees and 206 awarded patents that I had claimed on my resume, I will cry mightily about the unfair and uneven application of these policies.

  34. Makes sense to me by nedlohs · · Score: 1

    The "scapegoats" job was to check the damn CV. He screwed up and clearly didn't bother doing his job. That'll get you sacked in most jobs.

    Of course the CEO should go to, then again he's demonstrated he can deceive people which is probably a useful skill for getting investors to overvalue the company,

  35. they will probably pay him millions to step down by schlachter · · Score: 1

    1. Lie about having a CS degree when interviewing for a CEO position
    2. ???????
    5. profit!!!!

    --
    My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
  36. Makes Perfect Sense by holophrastic · · Score: 1

    It was someone's job to validate the resume. That person didn't do the job properly. So that person loses their job. That makes perfect sense.

    As for the person having been hired with a false resume, that person may still be a good candidate. Could be the right person for the job.

    The first person, having done the hiring, didn't make the mistake of hiring the wrong person. Made the mistake of not knowing what was being hired.

    Why do I sound as though english isn't my first language? It's been a stressful week.

  37. Caught with pants on the knees by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    CEO101 would actually state "do not everget caught with pants on your knees". It seems Yahoo's CEO failed at that.

  38. He should be fired and refund all earnings... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This may seem a bit harsh, but those of us who are middle tier are scrutinized to death for our abilities. I'm not saying he's not a good CEO, but at this point, his morals are such that his lies are of no consequence. Considering he is the most powerful individual in the company, he can hold alot of influence in how things are run today and in the future. So my argument to the board is this, since you feel it is OK to keep this individual who blatantly lied in a seat of power, you must therefore not fire any other employee for lying on his/her resume to get their job in that company.

    Is this really a lesson we want to teach the next generation of workforce? Lie to get what you want and let someone else take the fall. What ever happened to personal responsibility and integrity? I would have more respect for the person if he stepped down, and then started over in his search for a position at the same level playing field with others who are equally as qualified for a CEO position.

  39. Scum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who doesn't think he did anything wrong is a scumbag. I always check degrees, but if one got by me like this I would post the info all over the internet and hopefully ruin that a-hole's career. I worked hard for my CE degree and don't want any posers diluting that accomplishment.

  40. Re:Worthless Human PEON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You aren't helping your case with your serious lack of reading comprehension: the CEO in question did have a college degree - just not the one he claimed.