Kevin Morrissey, managing editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, committed suicide late last month when he shot himself in the head.  Now, details of turmoil within the small staff of the Virginia Quarterly Review have begun to surface as questions surrounding the suicide arise.   Family members and people close to the review say Morrissey had been complaining to the university about workplace bullying by his boss, Ted Genoways.  Multiple sources indicate that Morrissey sought help from various University of Virginia departments, including Human Resources, the President’s Office, and University Ombudsman Brad Holland.  Allegedly, the institution did virtually nothing to help.  Some close to the situation say that in the days before the death, they even warned the university that Morrissey, who suffered from serious depression, might commit suicide.  University of Virginia has no formal anti-bullying policies in place.  Full Article

Worker abuse is a widespread problem as 37% of American adults said they had been bullied at work in a 2007 Zogby poll.  Some time ago NY passed a Workplace Violence policy to protect public employees and part of that law includes worker-on-worker violence.  However, the current law only covers bullying if there is a physical assault or the explicit threat of physical violence.  The Healthy Workplace Bill recently passed in the NY State Senate and now waiting for a vote on the Assembly side is expected to fill that gap.  If the bill becomes law, workers will be able to sue for physical, psychological or economic harm due to abusive treatment on the job.  Workers who can show that they were subjected to hostile conduct — including verbal abuse, threats or work sabotage — could be awarded lost wages, medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages.  Read more: Full Article

The attorneys at Leeds Morelli & Brown, P.C., dedicate a large amount of their practice to employment law.  For any questions, contact an attorney at the Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C. law firm for a free consultation at 1-800-585-4658. Leeds Morelli & Brown P.C.’s website is located at www.lmblaw.com