AOL CEO: Firing employee for taking a photo was a mistake

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told employees
Tuesday that he's sorry for publicly fired an
employee for taking a photo during a
conference call.



NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
AOL CEO Tim Armstrong told
employees Tuesday that he's sorry for
publicly firing an employee for taking
a photo during a conference call. But
the guy is still fired.
On Friday, Armstrong was leading a conference
call to discuss the future of AOL's hyper-local
news network called Patch. The creative
director of Patch, Abel Lenz, reportedly tried
to take a photo, and Armstrong fired him on
the spot -- and everyone on the call overheard.
CNNMoney obtained a memo Armstrong sent
to employees on Tuesday, in which the CEO
said the public manner of Lenz's firing was a
"mistake." Business Insider was the first to
post the memo.
"It was an emotional response at the start of a
difficult discussion dealing with many people's
careers and livelihoods," Armstrong wrote. AOL
is considering cutting the number of sites to
600 from 900, which will likely mean a few
hundred Patch employees will be let go.
Read Armstrong's memo to AOL employees
"[A]t a human level it was unfair to Abel,"
Armstrong wrote, adding that he apologized to
Lenz personally "for the way the matter was
handled."
But Lenz is still out of a job. Armstrong said he
had previously been warned not to record
confidential meetings so that employees can
feel free to speak openly.
Patch, which Armstrong co-founded in 2007,
has long been a struggle for AOL to monetize.
AOL acquired Patch for a reported $7 million
when Armstrong became CEO in 2009,and the
company has since invested millions more into
the venture, hoping that a hyper-local focus
will help AOL regain consumer interest. AOL
( ) had already reduced Patch-related
costs by 25% this year.