Shortly after his death, Kevin Morrissey became the “poster child” for advocates of the Workplace Bullying Institute’s Healthy Workplace Bill. So, it’s curious to see how unusually quiet they’ve been about the announcement of Ted Genoways’ resignation from VQR. In less than a week the news of Ted’s resignation generated roughly 20 google pages of articles.
This was entirely my decision. It’s a decision that my current boss, the Vice President of Research tried to talk me out of and offered some great options in terms of leave time and saying maybe if you had six months away and could come back that you’d feel better about all of this. And, in the end it really wasn’t about anything with the University or anything else. It was about this job that I really loved doing it’s just my interest was not there anymore…. it would be dishonest to say that it didn’t have anything to do with Kevin’s death and with all of the public tumult that followed that but ultimately I continued doing it for six (6) issues after all of that. So, I mean, it was possible to keep doing it. I just in some ways felt like I had sort of run my course with it.
OUR BULLY PULPIT 
His decision to leave the university really shows the broad ramifications of both suicide and the bully label. The villification of Ted Genoways was a disgrace and the role of the WBI in fomenting public judgment with little information was yet another example of just how bullying this anti-bullying organization and its leadership have become. I wish Mr. Genoways great success in whatever direction his career should take him. Thank you for covering this story in both your blog and documentary. It’s a story that needs to be told.
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His decision to leave the university shows the lasting ramifications of both suicide, and the bully label. The public villification of Ted Genoways was a disgrace, and the role of the WBI in fomenting public judgment with little information demonstrates just how bullying this anti-bullying organization and its leadership have become. I wish Mr. Genoways great success in whatever career direction he pursues, and thank you for covering this story both in blog and your documentary. It’s a story that needs to be heard by anyone who thinks hurling the bully label is a humanitarian act.
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In my opinion as a bullied target, I am willing to bet that he was just as abusive as I’ve read by many working within the organization. I also am willing to bet that the organization had indeed heard many times that this person was abusive. I am willing to bet the the e-mail he’d copied to the victim was deliberate and intended to intimidate and demean him. This too was a tactic used by my harassers. He can attempt to look as professional and harmless as he would like, but I can see through the veneer. It is one that was used frequently within my office as the sadistic and harassing employees would mobb each other and demean and harass someone near daily.
I wish that he would live and be shown throughout every day of his life, at least 95% of what he has inked upon the psyche of others. I love how they always put on a facad of standup-ishness when the light is shined on them. But something tells me that the story was much different around the office daily.
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I tend to agree with the above comment from PTSDshock. If Mr Genoways did in fact behave in the manner described by other staff at VQR, I believe it to be a strong possibility that his actions played a part in Kevin’s decision to take his own life.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Genoways would have considered, prior to Kevin’s death, that his behaviour could have this impact on his colleague. I do believe that Kevin Morrissey was most likely let down by those in the organization who could have instigated a thorough investigation at the time his compaints were made. All too often, there is no-one managing the managers.
It is a tragic situation for everyone involved and another strong reason for legislation to be passed to ensure safety in all workplaces.
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Hi Lil,
I’ve just completed a film about this case and in the process I spoke with everyone who worked with Kevin and their observations on events in the office during the time prior to Kevin’s suicide. It is a story that will surprise you and make you question what you think you know about the topic – as it did for me.
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