Red Cross President Ousted Over Affair
Mark Everson Loses Top Job For "Personal Relationship" With Subordinate Employee
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Mark Everson (AP (file))
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Everson, the former commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, took the Red Cross job last May as the charity sought to restructure itself after sharp criticism of its response to Hurricane Katrina.
In a statement, the Red Cross said its board of governors asked for and received Everson's resignation, effective immediately, after learning within the past two weeks of the relationship with a woman on the Red Cross staff. The woman was not identified.
"The board acted quickly after learning that Mr. Everson engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate employee," the statement said. "It concluded that the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson's part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future."
The Red Cross also released a statement from Everson, who is married and has two children.
"I am resigning for personal and family reasons, and deeply regret it is impossible for me to continue a job so recently undertaken," he said. "I leave with extraordinary admiration for the American Red Cross."
The charity's board appointed Mary S. Elcano, its general counsel for the past five years, as interim president and CEO. Elcano's past experience includes a stint as executive vice president of human resources with the U.S. Postal Service.
"Although this is difficult and disappointing news for the Red Cross community, the organization remains strong and the lifesaving mission and work of the American Red Cross will go forward," said the board's chair, Bonnie McElveen-Hunter.
She said a search committee has been formed to seek a new leader.
... the situation reflected poor judgment on Mr. Everson's part and diminished his ability to lead the organization in the future.
American Red Cross statement"This does not reflect on the organization," Red Cross spokeswoman Suzy DeFrancis said of Everson's ouster. "People felt we were moving forward."
Everson's departure continues a trend of rapid turnover atop the Red Cross. The two women who preceded him as president both resigned amid friction with the board of governors Bernadette Healy after the Sept. 11 attacks and Marsha Evans in 2005, after Katrina. An interim president, Jack McGuire, served between Evan's departure and Everson's appointment.
When he took the Red Cross job, Everson embraced it after four years running the Internal Revenue Service.
"My 18-year-old daughter said, 'People will like you now,"' Everson remarked during an interview in July with The Associated Press.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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See all 57 CommentsDoesn''t have ANYthing to do with that... Red Cross is a deep pockets organization & the subordinate is a woman - and thaaaaat means if they DON''T fire the man who is the boss, the Red Cross is subject to liability - regardless of what''s right of wrong... heck, they may STILL end up getting sued - AND losing... this is why many big companies have a stated policy about dating subordinates period.
Now this guy KNOWS this so he took his chances & lost but when it all comes down to it, it''s a lawyer thing...
Fired for horsing around with somebody in the office? Huh. Used to be justice was dealt out by the spouse(s) of the philandering party and/or parties.
As far as this person, who cares if he and a subordinate were having a fling - if it''s consensual, big deal! With his background he''ll probably fall on his feet and the pay he gets for his new job will make the Red Cross pay seem like chump change.
People have been fooling around on jobs for a long long time, correct?
I''m not saying this is appropriate behavior or not, but.......Geeezzz
if you have had one background check and it came up clear - doesn''t hurt for them to do another does it? i mean - not a big deal - right?
How many more months do we have until election?
Posted by omahapundit at 04:20 PM : Nov 27, 2007
Carlad1958 here is your answer another organization I think has had its share of bad dealings and You are right I refuse to give to the Red Cross they just do not allocate the money the way we think it is going it is salvation army for me
Posted by marcodele at 04:03 PM : Nov 27, 2007
Can you believe this Marcodele the whole debockle to control it all justice dept supreme court now I find there on the board of the Red Cross along with condoleeza and Chertoff Good golly Miss Molly what else do they have there finger in the pie in.
Sorry this had to happen. But things do happen. Since we''''re on the subject of the Red Cross. I have something to do with Amateur/Ham radio.. Did I hear/see that the Red Cross wants their agency to conduct background checks on volunteers ?? The American Radio Relay League (ham radio group) out of Newington, Ct., is in disagreement with the Red Cross on their background check issues. Any comments ?? I can see both sides of the story. The main thing that turns me off or irks me on the background check issue.. Is that the Red Cross will not accept anyone else''''s background check.. Even if we''''ve been doing public Service for years.. Some of us have background checks done by Federal, State, or County agencies.. But NO DICE on that from the Red Cross. They gotta do their own.. Why ?? What has happened ?? What brought this about ?? And why are they so firm on their own background checks ?? This probably does not have any relation to what has happend or what this posting is about.. Any comments ??
Posted by johber at 04:03 PM : Nov 27, 2007
Jobber you asked some good questions I am not sure I can answer all but the background checks may have something that the President Condoleeza and Chertoff are all on the board and Homeland Security and they are requiring it.I do not give to the red cross any more since Katrina and I do not think they handle the money properly I give to the Salvation Army I hope Bush an his cronies do not take that over.
Posted by johber at 04:03 PM : Nov 27, 2007
You forgot all these toe tappers and pedifilers
Posted by jetlizhan at 03:03 PM : Nov 27, 2007
+ report abus
Sorry jobber I meant to answer jetlizhan you forgot toe tappers
According to memos I saw during Katrena it was the city that wouldn''t let the Red Cross leave food or bedding in town but insisted it be taken out of town and brought back in.
These were on day 0, 1, 2 and 3 of the storm they weren''t fixed up after the fact.
All disasters are local and a local problem. Local people are the ones that solve the problem. The Red Cross, FEMA and all the rest are set up to help local leaders.
When local leaders fail it takes time for some one to realize the problem, get someone there to solve it and finally solve it.
Please CBS, give the rational among us a break. Maybe we show read the BBC and return to a semblance of sanity.
REH
On the other hand eveyone makes mistakes, so how do we account for that and still make sure we are not abused again?
Posted by preacherbob1
No one is making you come down to the gutter her bobby. If you do not like the fact that you are here too and are no better than anyone else, leave. It will not make you better than anyone else but we will not have to listen to your self-righteous richard cranium babble in the meantime.
+ report a
It wasn''t the liberals who let him go the liberals went through he11 when Clinton got caught which I think was nobody''s business as this is no body''s business what the democrats are commenting on more than any thing is that the board is appointed by Bush and Rice and Chertoff are appointed on that board by the President.I personally think the policy formed by Red Cross should be followed I do not know that policy
That man knew better as did the woman. There is proper work chothes for each gender. The women need to cover up and they know what I mean. They know what they are doing.
Men should be punished for being heterosexual?
Having that on your resume means you met the qualifications that this Administration demands - one of which the constant flow of media reports should have made clear is that you must be lower than the belly of a snake.
Most posters are mature enough to avoid the kind of abusive and defamatory posting you cited.
Those few who engage in it, do so because of the anonymity these screennames offer.
CBS should implement an easy IGNORE function so that other members can wipe these posts off their screens.
A lot of other websites have this function.
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