Posted on 02/16/2017 12:28:44 PM PST by simpson96
A former Dairy Queen manager has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, accused of bullying a high school worker who committed suicide just days before Christmas, authorities said.
Harley Branham, 21, made her first court appearance Tuesday in connection with the death of Kenny Suttner, 17, who shot himself outside his family’s home on Dec. 21 in Glasgow, Missouri.
Red: Family of Teen Who Killed Himself After Being Bullied at School Considers Wrongful Death Suit: 'You Failed Danny'
She did not enter a plea. She was released on $25,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May. Her attorney, Jeff Hillbrenner, said his client feels badly about Suttner’s death, The Associated Press reported.
The boy’s family released a statement Tuesday saying, “It is long overdue that the issue of bullying be brought to light.”
On Jan. 31, a six-person coroner’s jury found Branham was the principal cause of the teen’s suicide. She was charged the next day with second-degree involuntary manslaughter.
Several co-workers testified Branham had treated Suttner badly and forced him to perform demeaning tasks such as cleaning the floor while lying on his stomach, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Sorry, I believe people are responsible for their own actions. I don’t buy the liberal BS you put forward. There is always an option.
Can I charge my DI with something? Anything? He humiliated me and about 60 other guys. He was mean to me. Tsgt. Onacki (never forget him).
Oh, please. How can suicide be manslaughter and manslaughter be suicide? Bad bosses are everywhere - you either quit, go to higher-ups, sue, or accept the terms. I’d walk, myself.
Beat me by 12 mins. I’m slow because Onacki invaded my safe space.
It’s not liberal BS to believe that supervisors are legally liable for the abuse they heap upon subordinates. That woman should never have been in a position of authority over another human being. She took joy in degrading and humiliating that poor kid. Actions have consequences. Believing that actions don’t have consequences is what is liberal BS.
LOL!
My favorite DI was MSG Barnum. He said ‘Barnum’ stood for, ‘Bad, Arrogant, Rotten, Nasty, Ugly & Mean.’
Nicest guy you’d ever want to meet...except on the battlefield or in a dark alley! ;)
The consequences should be that she can’t keep any employees from walking off the job.
Her bosses look at her turnover and fire her.
OH WAIT THAT WILL MAKE HER KILL HERSELF OH NOESSSSS WON’T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILLLLLLLDREN?!?!
This boy, while a sad case, never learned from his parents how to deal with adversity, no doubt due to the “participation trophy/you’re not immature, you’re autistic” treatment.
On top of that, he was under the influence of that mental poison known as social media.
None of what you said in this thread is applicable.
I had a nasty woman boss at Artur Treacher’s Fish’n’Chips. I found it much easier to quit.
This is very dumb.
It’s a reasonable charge, no matter how much you and others screech and emote about your misplaced conservative principles. She greatly contributed to the cause of his death. That is the definition of involuntary manslaughter.
No, the liberal BS is from you. It is liberal BS that says supervisors are legally liable for verbal abuse — physical abuse, yes, verbal no. And yes actions have consequences. The kid could have gone to his supervisors supervisor, he could have quit etc. And, the supervisor could have been fired if warranted. But it is complete liberal BS to say legal liability for verbal abuse.
Agreed.
You’re arguing against existing law. Don’t like it? Work to get it changed. As it stands, supervisors most definitely are legally accountable for verbal abuse and you know it.
Girl power! /s
Well, that is a brilliant statement. I don’t live where this took place so I can’t try to change the law, if indeed it is a current law. That law doesn’t exist where I live, so maybe this happened where liberals prevail. But even at that, my opinion, is that verbal abuse should not be a legal liability. What I consider verbal abuse, you may not, and what you consider verbal abuse I may not and that is the problem. And again, you are welcome to your opinion that people are not responsible for their own actions. That is not mine. Have a nice day.
Oh no, I've been stating the opposite. This woman definitely is responsible for her own actions. You just want to create a special separate category excluding words from that responsibility.
I don’t think she did anything criminal. The closest thing listed in the article is throwing a burger at the teenage employee. (The manager is fairly young, 21, herself.)
She should be fired and her actions made a public record (which has happened).
Employer should be liable for financial damages in a civil trial the same as if the employee had been forced to leave due to a manger creating a hostile work environment.
For the teenage employee continue to work in this environment is untenable. But he is responsible for taking his own life.
Sounds like the environment at the public school he attended was the bigger problem.
I understand grieving parents wanting someone to pay for hurting their kid. But putting this girl in prison for manslaughter is not the way to do it.
This is utterly ridiculous snowflake judicial travesty; if you don’t like your job, quit. Or be a man and tell the boss off and get fired.
> supervisors most definitely are legally accountable for verbal abuse <
Yes. If a headline-seeking DA had brought the charges, that wouldn’t mean much. But a jury brought the charges. That carries weight with me.
As a veteran high school teacher, I saw a lot of bullying over the years. It’s always ugly, and the victim rarely sees a way out (even if there is one).
It is NOT, repeat NOT, like one’s experience in boot camp. In boot camp everyone gets sh*t on rather equally, so to speak. In a bullying case one weak soul is singled out. Everyone else gets to enjoy the show.
And it looks like the student might have been a special-needs kid. From the Columbia Daily Tribune:
“Former classmates told the jury about how Suttner was relentlessly teased at school because of his appearance, his walk or how he spoke, among other things.”
Bullying? That’s why 4:00 AM was created.
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