August 13, 2010

Sobering Story of a Suicide Offers Glimpse Into Work of Ombuds

Last month, an editor of the The Virginia Quarterly Review took his own life after complaints of workplace bullying. An investigation by the Chronicle of Higher Education reveals that the situation was known to administrators at the University of Virginia and that the victim allegedly sought assistance from the campus Ombuds. 

The article offers a glimpse into the kind of case that Organizational Ombuds will find very familiar and an outcome all Ombuds fear. (Chronicle of Higher Education.)

Related posts: Restructuring at University of Virginia Divests Ombuds of Mediation Duties; The Story of a Suicide -- An Ombuds' Worst Case Scenario; Ombuds to Lead ADRhub Webinar on Bullying.

Update 8/19/10: The victim's sister releases phone records showing calls to the UVA Ombuds office less than two weeks prior the suicide.  (ABC News.)

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