HR Director in Lackawanna County Resigns

The Human Resources director for Lackawanna County resigned only a few hours after beginning his new job on Monday. He resigned after The Times Tribune questioned if he actually graduated from the University of Scranton or not. Joseph A. Refice had indicated on his employment application that he did, in fact, graduate from the University of Scranton.

Refice, who is 63 years old, chose to resign on Monday, just a few hours after beginning his first day on the job. It was odd that he chose to resign, especially because he had just got the position, in which he had always wanted, especially because he had the experience for the position. However, the Chief of Staff, Maria Elkins, prepared a statement in which she said that the Lackawanna County confirmed that Refice did, in fact, submit an employment application that did not match up, meaning that he did not actually graduate from the University of Scranton. The county has accepted his resignation and he will no longer be the Human Resources director for the county.

Refice was a deputy secretary for the Department of Revenue for quite a while and spent a lot of his time working with the government. In his application, it said that he had a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, of which he earned at the University of Scranton. When asked if he graduated from the college, Refice checked the box that said yes.

However, while there are records from the university that show he was enrolled in classes there in 1972, 1977, and 1978, there is actually no proof that he graduated. His graduation from the university has not been recorded which has caused a lot of speculation, as people believe he was not telling the complete truth. It turns out that Refice never earned a degree from the University of Scranton. He did attend the university but never graduated and did not obtain the degree that he says he earned.

Refice refused to make any comments after resigning from his position. Many have tried to contact him but were unable to reach him. When the Times-Tribune first said that the University of Scranton did not have any record of him graduating, Refice insisted he did and that he had a degree to prove it. He also said that he could not explain why the University of Scranton did not have his graduation on record but said that he would get everything straightened out. At that point in time, he said the newspaper was picking on him and trying to embarrass him. He believed that they were basically witch hunting on him, jealous that he had the position. However, it turns out that Refice was lying and could never get things straightened out because he did not graduate from the university.