TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ex-Wikipedia COO Has Record

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICHARD MULLINS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

TAMPA - Executives with the online encyclopedia Wikipedia are trying to solve a mystery within their ranks: How did they promote a person to chief operating officer without knowing she has criminal records in three states, including incidents of theft, drunken driving and a shooting?

The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the massively popular Wikipedia.com, has attorneys and staff combing through records of Carolyn Doran, 45, who worked at the St. Petersburg offices as COO from January to July this year.

Doran resigned from her position this summer, and the foundation is restructuring its top ranks and seeking a new operational chief, according to executives with the Wikimedia Foundation.

Doran could not be reached for comment. Messages left with her attorneys were not responded to.

What is clear is that for an enterprise that thrives on a wealth of information, the top managers say they had too little information about their own high-level employees.

Reflecting Wikipedia's own fluid and public nature, founder Jimmy Wales and other board members are now trading bits of information about Doran on Wikipedia's own public news board.

Wales took to the Web site writing that "As the founder of Wikipedia and spiritual leader of the project from day one, I make this promise to you: If the currently underway audit turns up any stolen money, I will personally make a donation out of my own pocket to cover the loss."

Doran's case comes at an already busy time for Wikipedia. Founded in St. Petersburg in 2001 by Wales and several other technology entrepreneurs, Wikipedia has become one of the most popular sites on the Internet, now hosting 9.1 million articles in 253 languages.

This summer, the foundation decided to relocate operations to the San Francisco area to be closer to other high-tech startups and to make international travel easier.

The nonprofit organization, which operates on a budget of more than $4 million this year, survives on donations from individuals and corporations. As a nonprofit foundation, it must conduct an audit each year, and that is ongoing now, Wales said in his posting.

So far, there is no evidence of any missing money, he said. "Knowing the current state of things, I am reasonably confident that this promise to reimburse the foundation costs me nothing to make: I make it to reassure you, reader, that I stand behind this organization 100%."

Board Was Unaware Of Wrongdoing

The debate surrounding Doran began last week when a British news organization called The Register contacted Wikipedia to ask about Doran's criminal record. At the time, Wikipedia had no evidence of any wrongdoing or criminal background, board members say.

The foundation has been a relatively small organization, with about a dozen employees mainly working in St. Petersburg.

Records from Texas to Florida to Washington show:

•According to a Feb. 21, 1990, article in The Washington Post, Doran pleaded guilty in Fairfax County, Va., to "unlawful wounding" of her boyfriend at the time, Phillip Brown, shooting him with a .357 magnum in the chest as he lay in bed. Brown survived the shooting.

•Then in September 1990, she was charged with theft by check in Collin County, Texas. The charge was dismissed.

•Three months later, she was charged with driving under the influence, again in Collin County, and found guilty.

Doran came to the foundation as a bookkeeper from a temporary employment agency, said Wikimedia general counsel Mike Godwin. Although the foundation did not conduct a background check, Godwin said, the temp agency should have.

Doran ultimately rose through the ranks to chief operating officer in January.

The whole organization went through a reorganization that included a change in the role of the COO position, Godwin said. Amid it, Doran left.

In May, during her time working at the foundation, she was charged in Pinellas County with a DUI and driving on a suspended license, and released on bail. The case is pending, according to public records.

Members Try To Trace Doran's Activities

Florence Nibart-Devouard, chairwoman of the Wikimedia Foundation, wrote on the Wikipedia site on Saturday that "we had no idea she had a criminal background, or it is pretty obvious we would not have hired her."

In August, a month after leaving the foundation, Doran was charged with DUI in Pinellas County, according to sheriff records.

The Wikipedia news Web sites now host a flurry of posts and cross-posts by members tracing Doran's activities while at Wikipedia, including how she was hired, how she rose to COO and which entries she made on the encyclopedia itself.

The incident has already changed how Wikipedia handles new employees. All new applicants will undergo background checks.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at rmullins@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7919.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT