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Post by Kirsty on Dec 8, 2005 11:49:03 GMT 1
I read about a teenage girl yesterday who died of an overdose after being bullied at KFC, where she worked, for months and months. When she complained to senior staff, they told her to shut up and get on with her work or they'd suspend her, even though they could see (maybe they took part) what was going on. She was verbally abused but it was more than that too - her colleagues drew on her face and body with permanent markers, the attacked her with wooden skewers, they locked her in a freezer, they splashed hot cooking oil on her, squirted mayonnaise on her, sprayed her with deodorant and threatened to set her alight, tampered with her belongings, vandalised her staff photograph, and asked her: "what would you do if we ripped your clothes off and raped you right now?" She endured the abuse for a year before quitting, but became clinically depressed and spent time in a psychiatric ward, taking an OD two months after she was released. Can you believe that?! And KFC have hardly said a thing about it. They've put in a couple of security measures but that's it. The article didn't say what happened to all the staff who did this to her either.
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Post by andi on Dec 8, 2005 12:12:52 GMT 1
Yes, i was shocked to read about this Kirsty. As you may know i was badly bullied ay school, and it;s something i feel strongly about. I just lived with it, it was part of my normal life, rather than trying to do anything about it. Even now, i feel uncomfortable talking about it, so reading this article yesterday really shocked me too. It's disgusting that an employer would let this happen, although i don't eat KFC products anymore anyway, after someone i know told me about the poor hygiene standards in our local outlet.
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 8, 2005 13:27:04 GMT 1
I know, I mean, obviously reading the article I was shocked at what they had done to her, but the thing that probably shocked me most was that this was all allowed to happen. There would've been senior staff and people in charge of that outlet who were aware of what was going on and they did nothing to stop it. The girl this happened to wrote a letter of complaint after she quit, but that wasn't even opened until a couple of months after she died. They also had complaints from somebody else who was locked in a freezer! When I got to the end of the article, I was expecting them to mention KFC's apology and talk about the measures that have been put in place since this happened, and say something like all of the people involved no longer worked there - but all they said was KFC now have a special hotline so that any staff who are being bullied can phone up the number and talk to somebody about it
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Post by andi on Dec 8, 2005 14:18:04 GMT 1
Yes, this shouldn't have been allowed to happen, and yes there should have been someone who would have been aware of what was going on and put a stop to it. The sad truth though is that victims of bullying rarely speak up as we are too scared to do so in fear that it will only make things worse.
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 8, 2005 15:15:44 GMT 1
I know but it's different in schools - teachers often don't realise how serious the problems are, so the only people who know are the victims and bullies.
This happened in a professional working situation among adults (the girl was 18) and there were supervisors and senior staff who were probably older and did nothing about it! Who are you supposed to speak to when your own supervisors are already fully aware of the problem and allowing it to happen?!
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Post by andi on Dec 8, 2005 15:37:56 GMT 1
Yes, thats very true Kirsty. I guess bullying in the work place is an issue thats not regognised unlike schools, but it's still equally if not more serious. Bullying in schools is done by children, not that that makes it acceptable in any way. Adults should not be bullying each other at all, let alone in the work place. It does go on, and i know people who've had bad experiences with supervisors they don't get along with, but nothing as serious at this case. It is hard to know who to speak up to when your supervisors are allowing something like this to happen.
Sadly i fear that although this case has made the news, because of the death of the young girl involved, this is not an isolated case, and there are a lot more instances go unreported because people don't know who they can turn to, or don't want to lose the job because they need the money. So they simply put up with their lives being made a misery every day, as many school children do too in fear of making things worse by speaking out.
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Post by Cristina on Dec 8, 2005 19:19:50 GMT 1
Oh my god!
How come she didnt quit sooner, did they like threaten her or something, if she left?
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 9, 2005 1:05:57 GMT 1
I don't know. Maybe it wasn't so bad at first then gradually got worse. Her parents didn't even know it was happening so I suppose she would've faced questions if she'd quit, as she obviously didn't want to tell them.
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Post by andi on Dec 9, 2005 10:47:34 GMT 1
I think all bullying gets worse as the bullies realise they can get away with more and more. What makes this particular case so bad, as we've already said, there would have been senior management at the outlet in question that would have been aware what was going on, and could have stopped things going on. If they were aware of the problem, and ignored it, and let it escalate then they are just as guilty if not more so for failing to provide a safe working environment for their staff.
I'd like to hope KFC would take the matter seriously rather than introducing "a couple of security measures". As a victim of bullying myself for a few years, i know how hurtful it can be, and i have total sympathy for the poor girl and her family. I was a weak and easy target for them to prey on. It's no fun having your life made a misery day after day. Fortunately now that chapter of my life is in the past where i firmly intend to leave it.
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 9, 2005 12:07:24 GMT 1
I hope KFC make a full apology and are more clear about the precautions they will now take. I can only assume that they haven't issued a statement or anything because the hearing is ongoing - perhaps once there is a verdict, they'll have more to say.
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Post by andi on Dec 9, 2005 14:21:08 GMT 1
Yes, thats very true Kirsty. Sometimes they can't say anything while there is a hearing going on, but i hope they will have a lot more to say after a verdict is reached too. The girls family definately deserve an apology, and they would want to know that KFC had implemented measures to prevent this sort of situation arising again to someone else.
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 9, 2005 15:09:04 GMT 1
Yeah. Not that an apology will make the slightest difference now but even still.
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Post by andi on Dec 9, 2005 15:25:55 GMT 1
Well yeah, but atleast if they can say sorry, and we are the steps we have taken to prevent this sort of thing happening again then atleast they may find some comfort in knowing some other poor girls family won't hopefully have to go through this ordeal.
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Post by Kirsty on Dec 10, 2005 2:01:49 GMT 1
Yeahh hopefully. Well, we'll see what happens then.
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Post by Manoj on Dec 19, 2005 18:10:44 GMT 1
OMG That is disgusting that poor girl
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