Principled Profit

You’d think people would know by now not to lie on their resume. Apparently not, however. Reuters reports that Radio Shack’s CEO, David Edmondson, lied about his degree. Here’s the story as reported in USA Today. Plus he’s had at least three rounds of court proceedings for drunk driving.

Two things astonish me about this article.

First, his utter shameless chutzpah:

Edmondson issued a statement Wednesday admitting that he erroneously said he received a Bachelor of Science degree, a four-year college degree.

The CEO said he now believes he received a ThG diploma, which is awarded for completing a three-year degree in theology.

Uhh, hello–you don’t erroneously claim a degree. An error implies an honest mistake. This was a lie, plain and simple, and please let’s not try to pretend otherwise. the article goes on to speculate about whether he even receive the ThG, and also noted that he claimed a degree his school didn’t offer, and that the school has no record of his graduation at all. Not pretty! This is the sort of ducking of responsibility you expect from an irresponsible teenager raised by incompetent parents–not the CEO of one of the largest electronics retailers in the world.

Second, the amazing statement at the end of the article:

The resume issues and DWI issues raised speculation about whether Edmondson would survive as RadioShack’s CEO.

Speculation? Speculation! Any company that doesn’t instantly demand the resignation of a CEO caught lying on his resume should have its collective head examined. If ethics means anything anymore, that should be a zero-tolerance, one-strike-and-you’re-out, no-severance package offense. Followed by a lawsuit for fraud.