U. of Va. magazine editor commits suicide, blames bullying boss

[Baron Scicluna]

I won't pretend to know all about depression and stuff like that, but to me, if a boss was driving me to that extreme, I would more likely be in jail for punching the asshole out instead of killing myself.

 

[brandonsneed]

God, this situation sounds all kinds of awful. Feel nothing but pain for the guy and his family. And can do nothing but wonder about the boss. How and why do people become like that?

So sad.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

This sounds horrible. As someone who has dealt with depression and asshole bosses, this really strikes a chord with me.

 

[Double J]

Ditto. RIP, Kevin.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

I won't pretend to know all about depression and stuff like that, but to me, if a boss was driving me to that extreme, I would more likely be in jail for punching the asshole out instead of killing myself.

The boss is lucky the guy didn't take his ass down with him.

 

[Tarheel316]

You got that right Harley.

 

[slappy4428]

I won't pretend to know all about depression and stuff like that, but to me, if a boss was driving me to that extreme, I would more likely be in jail for punching the asshole out instead of killing myself.

Bosses don't have to be liked, but if everyone hates you, you might want to take a hint.

my ex-publisher never took the hint. not at least until they showed him the door.

Worked with an EE so evil that I found myself praying his pacemaker had stopped working during the night and my optic nerve twitching like a guitar string.
They demoted him from publisher and EE to just EE -- he should have seen the handwriting on the wall. When he was fired, we had a party.
A few years later, he worked at another small paper in Michigan. And one of our former sports guys worked there too. The sports guy had been pushed over the edge by the asshole editor and wound up going after him with scissors. Didn't really get him, but the guy wound up with 30 days in the county jail -- served on weekends from 11:59 p.m. Friday to 12:01 a.m. Monday.
He didn't have a jury trial of his peers; none of us would have ever convicted him... a few months later, the EE was fired from his second job.

 

[wannabeu]

I won't pretend to know all about depression and stuff like that, but to me, if a boss was driving me to that extreme, I would more likely be in jail for punching the asshole out instead of killing myself.

The boss is lucky the guy didn't take his ass down with him.

If someone drove me to that level, that SOB would be a dead dog before I commit suicide.

 

[Totally Krossed Out]

I'm sure the boss is a huge asshole, but I feel it's unfair to blame him for the suicide. And I feel it's irresponsible journalism to imply he played a part in it. There are a lot of horrible bosses in the world, and most people don't go as far as to kill themselves.

It's horrible what happened and I feel absolutely terrible for the victim and his family, but if anybody is to blame for this it's the school. If there were 18 complaints in two weeks, the school should have done something to at least separate the two.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I'm sure the boss is a huge asshole, but I feel it's unfair to blame him for the suicide. And I feel it's irresponsible journalism to imply he played a part in it. There are a lot of horrible bosses in the world, and most people don't go as far as to kill themselves.

It's horrible what happened and I feel absolutely terrible for the victim and his family, but if anybody is to blame for this it's the school. If there were 18 complaints in two weeks, the school should have done something to at least separate the two.

Yes, the school should have done something, especially with 18 complaints in two weeks. And yes, the guy obviously had depression issues.

But it's perfectly fair to blame the boss for this. The guy left his place of work and shot himself after the negative feedback kept piling up. If the guy was a good boss, odds are, the editor would still be alive today.

 

[Bristol Whipped]

It's a bad sign when one of your employees -- reportedly a longtime friend of yours -- commits suicide, you're blamed, and then your lawyer comes across as being more sympathetic to your friend than you are.

 

[podunk press]

Makes me thankful for my boss. Wow.

It's amazing how one person can ruin a newsroom, though.