Philip Rucker of the Washington Post reports that Mark Everson, late of the IRS, more recently head of the American Red Cross, has resigned. He’d only been with the Red Cross since May of this year. From Rucker’s piece :

American Red Cross president and chief executive Mark W. Everson resigned today because he engaged in a personal relationship with an employee.

Everson, who previously was commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, took over the Red Cross on May 29 as the federally chartered disaster-relief agency struggled to restore a reputation damaged by its response to Hurricane Katrina. He oversaw a broad restructuring plan for the $3.4 billion organization.

Everson’s resignation is effective immediately. He was engaged in a personal relationship with a subordinate female employee, agency spokeswoman Suzy C. DeFrancis said. A senior executive at the Red Cross informed the board of directors about the affair about 10 days ago and the board asked Everson to resign, DeFrancis said.

The Red Cross is unique and holds a particular public trust – it has a charter established by Congress, FCC-allocated radio frequencies – the unauthorized use of which is a crime – it’s quasi-governmental.

Adultery is not, I think, generally an issue of public concern – but with a subordinate, and when it’s against the rules – asking for Eveson’s resignation seems wise action by the Red Cross board. It’s safe to say that the Red Cross has great potential; this sort of conduct, at minimum, is a distraction from critical work.

Trent Stamp points out that “this makes at least 4 ARC presidents who have been forced out in the last 6 years.” (Link to post)

Stamp is the president of Charity Navigator – a well-regarded promoter of good practices and transparency among nonprofits. In July Stamp called Everson on appointing a longtime aide as the Red Cross ombudsman.

(There’s nothing inherently wrong with bringing subordinates and colleagues with you to a new employer – in fact, it’s often useful, where people have existing trust and working relationships. But not as an ombudsman, inspector general, or outside monitor. And it’s disturbing that Everson couldn’t have done those sums himself).

While Rucker of WaPo says that the Red Cross board learned of this ten days ago – looks like the decision may have been made today – we found this release  dated today –  announcing that Everson would preside over the 12/3 Florence Nightingale awards ceremony. Suggesting that the board’s decision happened after the Nightingale announcement.

Perhaps not  – we’ve also found an earlier version on the Red Cross website dated November 20th.