The guy runs http://dnforum.com - he is a very well known domainer. He just took the job not too long ago. There was a thread about it on DNForum.

GoDaddy knew this - it is probably why they hired him. By doing that they probably knew that he would continue his domaining business activities. (Which could, at some point in the future, create a conflict of interest.)

That said.. I don't think this is that big of a deal. So the guy won a few domain auctions - if he wasn't there someone else would have won them. He just happens to be the person that won in this case.