The former Chief of Staff for the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was allowed to keep her employment with a suspension, demotion & pay cut after it came to light that she claimed a non-existent Master’s degree from Northeastern University. Is it me, or is that exceedingly lenient?? https://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/07/suspension_and_22000_pay_cut_a.html
It seems neither State nor Federal Governments like to do anything 'final' about bogus degrees - or bogus claims of real ones. Even with the disgraced former Senior Director at Homeland Security, Laura Callahan - who had three Degrees - Bachelor's Masters and Doctorate - all from (bogus) Hamilton University (Wyoming). She was quietly re-hired by the Federal Government for a sensitive Cybersecurity post in 2011. By that time, she had earned a legit Bachelor's Master's and PhD. at RA schools. Her story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Callahan Hamilton U. story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_University We had a thread on Ms. Callahan's re-hiring here: https://www.degreeinfo.com/index.php?threads/multiple-detonations.51350/
Yeah, lenient, I think. I suspect part of the rationale may be that the job did not require a Master's degree. That was the argument used in the case of Asst. Defense Secretary Charles Abell and his fake Master's from Columbus University. (Also, ABC reported, that he played golf with George W.)
Fake Master's? Golf with George W., you say? Perhaps now is the time for all good Federal job-seekers to polish up their Trump University credentials and um..."Don" their regalia!
Abell's title was "principal deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness," thus the senior Human Resources person in the Dept. of Defense, dealing with degree recognition/acceptance for nearly two million people -- none of whom could legally use the degree he had. When I check a few years ago, he had a big job in private industry (surprise!) and was still using that degree.
Enrol now for your fake master's degree, then. I'm sure your demotion and pay cut (at the very least) will follow in due course.
Fake degrees won’t work for you and I. Fake degrees is working well for a segment of the population. A demotion or a pay cut, that is not consequence.
In many organizations, terminations are fairly rare. It's even less of an occurrence when it comes to long time employees who are well liked. For better or worse, it is very common for employers to be somewhat lenient when it comes to certain offenses. This is one of them. However, a demotion and a pay cut can be a pretty massive blow. And having to work with someone as a peer when you used to be their manager, especially if your fall was public, can be its own sort of punishment that encourages you to resign rather than be fired. To say that isn't a consequence demonstrates a lack of corporate experience. It is indeed a consequence and a very serious one. In many cases, far worse than being fired in terms of social stigma.
I am willing to accept my lack of corporate experience. However, still, in my opinion, a pay cut or demotion for the fake credentials is no consequence. Hence, the likely proliferation of phoney credentials. Some people can't even get their foot in the door with their real credentials because of whatever reason. A pay cut or demotion still keep the people out who were already the victims. However, the perpetrators of the fraud continue to be rewarded. If you belong to the category that might be demoted or have a pay cut why invest in the real thing. It is all about the ROI.
In most cases, people who are caught will resign, but big deal, people resigned all the time. However, the fakers still receives all the benefits and competitive advantage accrued to them because of the falsehood . James Peterson, Microsemi Corporation Title: President and chief executive officer Tenure: 2000-present Lie: Peterson falsely claimed to have a diploma from Brigham Young University, and the company repeated the claim in a press release. Punishment: Peterson was fined $100,000 and forced to forego a bonus, but he was not fired. === Richard Li, Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. Title: Chairman Tenure: 1994-present Lie: The Pacific Century CyberWorks website claimed that Li “graduated from Stanford University with a degree in computer engineering.” Li actually left after three years without graduating. Punishment: The media discovered the fabrication, but Li got away with it. The company admitted in a statement that he “left before completing his degree, for personal reasons.” Li said, “I was in a rush to go work at an investment bank, so I didn’t finish my course.” The oversight was blamed on lower-level company officials. === Ronald Zarrella, Bausch & Lomb Title: Chief executive officer Tenure: November 2001 – January 2008 Lie: Zarrella said he earned an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He did attend the program from 1972-1976, but he didn’t graduate. His previous employers never checked. Punishment: He had to forfeit $1.1 million from a bonus. He remained at Bausch & Lomb, who thought he was too valuable to fire him outright. ===
Thanks for a good summary of such matters, Phdtobe. If you'd like to add others, Radio Shack and Cessna Aircraft come to mind.
I am sure there are a lot more that did not hit the internet. In the USA, the punishment for having fake credentials is the incentive that is driving the proliferation of fake credentials. Who cares about a resignation, even worst a demotion or pay cut?
