NEW YORK (AP) — In a Nov. 17 story about changes CEO Ron Johnson has instituted at J.C. Penney Co., The Associated Press attributed to Michael Francis, a former Penney president, comments about Johnson's leadership of the company. The AP quoted Francis as saying that Johnson sticks to his beliefs and that Francis harbors no hard feelings toward Johnson, who fired him. "Life is too short," Francis was quoted as saying. AP obtained the quotes through an email conversation it initiated from a page for Francis on the social network LinkedIn. After the story was published, Francis called the AP to say that the LinkedIn account belonged to an impostor, and that he himself had made no comments to AP about Johnson. Francis said he had contacted LinkedIn and that the company eliminated the account. LinkedIn confirmed to the AP that it had eliminated the account but declined to discuss why it did so or whether it had evidence the account was fraudulent.
Clarification: JC Penney-CEO's Vision story
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In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 photo, a customer passes merchandise at a J.C. Penney store in New York. J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson seems unfazed that the department store chain's mounting losses and sales declines have led to growing criticism of his plan to change the way we shop. Perhaps that's because this isn't the first time during Johnson's 30-year career that he's attempted what seemed impossible. For instance, no one thought the stores he designed for Apple would succeed, and now they're the most profitable in the nation. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 photo, lingerie is shown at a Cosmopolitan boutique at a J.C. Penney store in New York. J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson seems unfazed that the department store chain's mounting losses and sales declines have led to growing criticism of his plan to change the way we shop. Perhaps that's because this isn't the first time during Johnson's 30-year career that he's attempted what seemed impossible. For instance, no one thought the stores he designed for Apple would succeed, and now they're the most profitable in the nation. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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This undated photo provided by J.C. Penney, shows CEO Ron Johnson. Johnson seems unfazed that the department store chain's mounting losses and sales declines have led to growing criticism of his plan to change the way we shop. Perhaps that's because this isn't the first time during Johnson's 30-year career that he's attempted what seemed impossible. For instance, no one thought the stores he designed for Apple would succeed, and now they're the most profitable in the nation. (AP Photo/J.C. Penney, Barth Tillotson)
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In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2012 photo, a customer looks at merchandise at a J.C. Penney store in New York. J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson seems unfazed that the department store chain's mounting losses and sales declines have led to growing criticism of his plan to change the way we shop. Perhaps that's because this isn't the first time during Johnson's 30-year career that he's attempted what seemed impossible. For instance, no one thought the stores he designed for Apple would succeed, and now they're the most profitable in the nation. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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