Red Cross fires a man for lying on his resume

[jumbach]

I thought this would be interesting (or maddening, in my case) since I know a few people here, including myself, work in Fund Development for nonprofits . . .

 

Red Cross unit fires man for phony resume

Marshall Allen, Staff Writer

Whittier Daily News, September 23, 2005

 

 

PASADENA -- A Los Angeles man with multiple grand-theft convictions and a history of using phony resumes to gain leadership positions at nonprofit organizations has been fired for fabricating his credentials to become a fund-raising officer at the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Fred Brito, 50, who lives in Glassell Park, was hired Aug. 10 using false credentials and an assumed name, Fred Brito Gomez, he admitted in an interview. He described himself as a five-time felon who has repeatedly fabricated his qualifications because society will not allow him to succeed honestly.

 

"I have to survive, I have to work," Brito said. "If I have to provide a resume that is not quite accurate, I have to work. There's no trees that are delivering any money. To me, if society doesn't want to give me a way to get hired in the right way, then I may have to be dishonest in my resume."

 

(The rest of the story is here . . .

 

 

This is Jim again: Grr, this guy pisses me off. Entitlement mentality, "poor me because of choices *I* made" syndrome. Waa waa waa. I'd rather make $1 honestly than $10 or $100 or $1,000 dishonestly.

I work hard for my nonprofit employer, and know how difficult it is to fill Development positions right now across the entire nonprofit sector. We don't need bozos like this filling up chairs that should go to more deserving, competent folks.

[Teddymonster]

Wow, this is really a tough call. While what he did is clearly wrong, I sort of sympathize for the guy. It must be really hard to get back on your feet after doing really stupid things, but I am sure there is some support groups for convicted felons to help them get integrated back into society. I'd just try to keep in mind that this, like most news stories, is pretty black and white, and there are probably other factors to it that we may not know about. My two cents...