[WikiEN-l] Former Wikimedia employee was a felon

[Sheldon Rampton]

After following this thread for awhile, I think this is a big tempest  
in a teapot.

Based on the information presented in the Register article, my  
impression is that Carolyn Doran falls more in the category of  
"dysfunctional person" than "major criminal." Her criminal record  
shows that she had a drinking problem, wrote checks for which she did  
not have funds, once stole a small amount of money ($300), and shot a  
boyfriend. This suggests to me someone who makes bad decisions, has a  
chaotic personal life and has poor impulse control. I'd rather not  
have her as a next-door neighbor, and it is unfortunate that the  
Wikimedia Foundation hired her, but I doubt that she used her position  
to embezzle large sums of money from the Foundation, and thus far I've  
seen no evidence presented suggesting that she stole anything at all  
or failed in any other way to perform her duties while a Foundation  
employee.

There are a few questions that Wikipedians and the public in general  
might want to know about this incident, including the following:

* Does this incident warrant changes in the Wikimedia Foundation's  
personnel hiring and screening procedures, and if so, has it  
implemented them?

* Did Doran misappropriate funds or engage in other on-the-job  
misconduct that materially affected the Foundation's fulfillment of  
its mission? (Her trip to Amsterdam on Foundation business may have  
violated her parole and added to her personal legal difficulties, but  
I wouldn't classify it as conduct that materially hurt the  
Foundation's work.)

* Does the Foundation have adequate procedures in place for preventing  
internal fraud? (For example, I serve on the board of a nonprofit  
organization that handles several million dollars in assets, and it  
has a number of policies in place regarding who can write checks, who  
opens the mail, etc.)

These questions are of legitimate interest to potential donors who  
want to know whether the Wikimedia Foundation is effectively managing  
its resources. However, I see little point in pursuing questions about  
what Jimbo knew when or whether Foundation representatives should have  
done more by way of publicly discussing the circumstances behind  
Doran's departure.

I've had some experience in personnel matters, and there are good  
reasons for employers to exercise care in what they disclose publicly  
about former employees and their reasons for leaving. These include  
the privacy rights of employees as well as negotiated agreements that  
sometimes accompany resignations and firings. I therefore would not  
expect Wikimedia Foundation representatives to share much information  
about Carolyn Doran, even if they do know something more than they  
have publicly shared. If they didn't know more, they didn't know it.  
If they DID know more, there's probably a good reason why they're not  
discussing it.

--------------------------------
|  Sheldon Rampton
|  Research director, Center for Media & Democracy (www.prwatch.org)
|  Author of books including:
|     Friends In Deed: The Story of US-Nicaragua Sister Cities
|     Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
|     Mad Cow USA
|     Trust Us, We're Experts
|     Weapons of Mass Deception
|     Banana Republicans
|     The Best War Ever
--------------------------------
|  Subscribe to our free weekly list serve by visiting:
|  http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
|
|  Donate now to support independent, public interest reporting:
|  http://www.prwatch.org/donate
--------------------------------