Richard Dawkins Claims Employee Rolled Him

[salvorhardin]

Richard Dawkins claims his webmaster, Josh Timonen, stole $375,000 from the RDF's American online store even while the RDF was paying Timonen almost $80,000 per year to run the RDF website and online store.

GLENDALE, Calif. (CN) - Evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins claims an employee of his Foundation for Reason and Science embezzled $375,000 from the online store he ran for Dawkins' charity, by claiming it made only $30,000 in 3 years.

Dawkins says he founded the charity to "support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and human suffering."

Dawkins hired Josh Timonen in 2006 to run his website and produce videos for him, according to the Superior Court complaint. Timonen began working for the Foundation in 2007.

According to Timonen's own records, Dawkins and the Foundation paid Timonen a total of $278,750 in 3½ years - an amount Dawkins calls "exceedingly generous and well above-market for someone of Timonen's age and experience, particularly for someone providing the bulk of his efforts to a charitable organization."
More: http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10/22/31283.htm

A member at one of the RDF.net forums-in-exile posted a copy of the court filing: http://www.rationalskepticism.org/news-politics/dawkins-sues-josh-timonen-t14455-40.html#p532180

[charlie]

1. That's gotta sting

When Timonen acted like an authoritarian weenie during the closure of the original RDF forums, Dawkins publicly stood by him, calling him a "personal friend."

[salvorhardin]

3. Not only that

Dawkins dedicated The Greatest Show On Earth to Timonen as well. First and foremost I'm shocked at this news, and I can't imagine Dawkins having felt any less so when he discovered Timonen's embezzlement. Having been betrayed by people in the past, I feel for Dawkins, I really do. I hope he learns from this and hires a professional accountant to oversee all the financial operations of the RDF.

Having read a couple of threads at one of the RDF.net forums in exile, I learned that Timonen was just selling the DVDs but he produced them too. That's scary because, depending on the contract he had with Dawkins, Timonen may indeed have a claim to the intellectual property. If Timonen was just a straight-up employee though, the RDF should easily retain ownership.

[charlie]

5. Oof

I didn't know about the dedication. If this kid's a thief, shame on his dumb ass.

[amyrose2712]

2. SEE!

Gawd getting him back!

[salvorhardin]

4. Timonen responds. Sort of.

Promises a soon-to-be-released public statement from his legal team. http://joshtimonen.com/post/1387207318/the-ultimate-betrayal

[charlie]

6. After a circuitous trip through a pity-me rant

the denial is at the bottom. Odd. If my lawyers were letting me defend myself openly, you'd find the words "bullshit" and "fuck you RDF" at the very top. Hope he's telling the truth.

It looks like the RDF is already asserting ownership of his contributions to the site.

[salvorhardin]

7. It's sad either way

If he's telling the truth, then Dawkins is a giant prick and the RDF board is mismanaging the foundation's assets. If he's actually guilty, then the board is still not providing proper fiduciary oversight and the RDF may be out of close to a million dollars.

[charlie]

8. I'm inclined to believe the RDF

Aside from their claim of incriminating docs... $10K a year in trinket and DVD sales? No way. Themed tees, mugs, key fobs, etc are often a site's biggest moneymakers. The Dawkins store bringing in only $800 a month beggars belief.

You're right, though. Nobody looks good in this mess.

Did you know Dawkins' first name is Clinton? It's in the complaint:

http://www.rationalskepticism.org/news-politics/dawkins-sues-josh-timonen-t14455-40.html#p532180

Here's the infamous home with the "wonderful waterfall" and "custom seating":

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Sherman-Oaks/4532-Mary-Ellen-Ave-91423/home/5220846

[salvorhardin]

9. Wow.

She turned her entire back yard into a water feature. That's one way to get around mowing.

[LeftishBrit]

12. Yes, his first name is indeed Clinton

I know that he is related to Sir Clinton Dawkins, who was a civil servant and colonial administrator at the turn of the 20th century. More interestingly from the present point of view, that Clinton Dawkins featured in 'The Masque of Balliol', a collection of rhymes published in 1880 by a group of Balliol undergraduates about their tutors and contemporaries. The rhyme about him goes:

'Positivists ever talk in
Such an epic style as Dawkins.
Creeds are naught, and Man is all.
Spell Him with a capital'.

So it seems that atheism/scepticism seems to run in that family from long before such attitudes were particularly common in England.

[charlie]

10. PZ is hosting the full complaint

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/upload/2010/10/RDFvTimonen.pdf
(PDF file)

It looks like Josh and his girlfriend are in big trouble.

$70+ grand a year for an ugly website, a stellar addition to his resume, and personal friendship with a renowned biologist; that boy didn't know what he was pissing away.

[salvorhardin]

11. Thanks

There are still aspects about this that bother me, such as the fact that Timonen documented his alleged embezzlement. If he was seriously embezzling, why wouldn't he have created a false record? I look forward to the statement prepared by Timonen's lawyers but I guess we'll have to wait for the trial to find out what really happened.