Kimberly Killen

March 4th, 2017

OBHR 3310. 5E1

Dairy Queen Discussion

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ....3

Question 1 ....4

Question 2 ....4

Question 3 ....5

Question 4 ....6

Question 5 ....7

Reference ..9
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Executive Summary

Overview

Dairy Queen is at the heart of a scandal involving the death of a 17-year-old teenage

employee. DQ issued a statement claiming that the company was not responsible of the

loss of Kenneth Suttner as that specific location was a franchised store. However, Dairy

Queen should consider it a part of the corporate group because of its brand recognition.

These franchised locations also need to abide by the companies employee code of

conduct or corporate policies, since corporate procedures and ethics are put into place

for the purpose of protecting the companys employees and customers.

Problem

Harley Branham was a manager who abused her power. She exhibited

counterproductive work behaviors by degrading her employee. She eventually tipped

Suttner over the edge with her defamatory actions, causing him to commit suicide.

Branhams criminal indictment is important because it sets a warning to all other young

and inexperienced managers that there are serious consequences to those who engage

in counterproductive work behavior

Solution

Dairy Queen should not ignore this situation. If the company is serious about fixing the

damage this incident has caused to the DQ brand, it is imperative that they issue a

formal apology and take responsibility for their negligence in appointing owners and

managers who do not follow the employee code of conduct.

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Question 1
Should a quick-serve restaurant owner, (Dairy Queen), be considered part of the
corporate group as it relates to a reasonable Code of Conduct, Corporate Policies and
Procedures, and Corporate Ethics? Why or why notsupport your answer.

Dairy Queen should be considered a part of a corporate group because of its

brand recognition. A news headline titled Dairy Queen Manager causes Employee to
Commit Suicide, is going to shock the DQ customer base and the American people.
Most of its customers are probably unaware that there even exist DQ locations that are
privately owned, which only furthers Dairy Queens responsibility for the employees
death.
It would be irresponsible for DQ if its franchised locations did not abide by the
companies employee code of conduct or corporate policies. In the event of such
tragedies, like the Kenneth Suttner case, DQ is ultimately responsible for hiring the
abusive manager Harley Branham, because they allowed the owner of the franchise to
do so.
Corporate procedures and ethics are put into place for the purpose of protecting
the companys employees and customers. It would be unethical for DQ to dismiss its
founding principles to distance itself from a devastating event. Dairy Queens Mission
statement reads To create positive memories for all who touch DQ, and it is imperative
to ensure that every customer and employee feels this way. If not, the company has
failed.

Question 2
Harley Branham was a young and inexperienced restaurant manager at Dairy Queen.
Since everyone makes mistakes in their lifes, how should Ms. Branhams behavior be
dealt with and is the criminal courts the correct solution? Please consider other
possibilities such as training, counseling, discipline etc.
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Harley Branham was a manager who abused her power. Her youth and inexperience
in management should not excuse her actions, as she exhibited counterproductive work
behaviors by degrading her employee. Per reports, Branham engaged in practices such
as forcing Kenneth Suttner to clean the floors with his bare hands, slandering him with
derogatory terms and throwing cheeseburgers at the victim. She created a hostile work
environment for the 17-year-old teen through perpetual humiliation and severe self-
esteem damage, all while knowing Suttner would comply with her nonsensical requests
and actions in fear of his termination. Consequently, alongside her dismissal from Dairy
Queen, Branham should be held accountable for the death of Kenneth Suttner.
Branhams defense calls for Suttners pervious bullying at school to be accounted for
in the teens death. However, unlike his part-time job, it is Missouri law for a child under
the compulsory attendance age for the district, in which case 17, to attend elementary
and secondary school, meaning Suttner had no choice but to attend school even under
the circumstances of bullying. For his job on the other hand Suttner had no legal
obligations to attend work but attended purely out of organizational commitment. The
complete duration of Suttners employment is unknown, however, reports state that his
loyalty to Dairy Queen was at least over three and a half months. Therefore, Branhams
defamatory actions at a place Suttner willingly brought himself to, on a weekly basis for
the last few months of his life, is a plausible reason for his untimely death.
Furthermore, Branhams criminal indictment is important because it sets a warning
to all other young and inexperienced managers that there are serious consequences to
those who engage in counterproductive work behavior.

Question 3
Bullying in the workplace occurs, bullying at school and on social media also
occurs. Do you feel there should have been behavioral signs that were missed that could
have mitigated this tragic outcome? Support you answer using information you have
learned in OBHR 3310.
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Kenneth Suttners suicide seems to be rooted from layers upon layers of

constant ridicule throughout his life, which was ultimately pushed over the edge by
manager Harley Branham. He quietly lived in a hostile environment of bullying and tried
his best to tolerate the negative comments towards him from his classmates and
coworkers
Public schools typically put a lot of emphasis on anti-bullying initiatives. However,
Glasgow High School failed to act when Suttner was harassed by his fellow classmates. It
is disheartening that his teachers were not proactive in helping the teen since, teachers
are sought to be the protectors of their students. Every one of Suttners teachers should
have been able to pick up signs that the teen was being bullied. The teachers should
have offered him comfort and support and reported it to school officials. Suttners peers
claim that his obesity and speech impediment were prime targets to bullying which begs
the question, why was this issue ignored? Suttners coworkers at Dairy Queen ought
to be ashamed of their actions too. From reports, Harley Branham had been harassing
Suttner for months yet none of his coworkers spoke out against the manager or
contacted HR. Their silence can be only be interpreted as consent. What his fellow
employees should have done was to report the incidents to the owner, in which the
owner should have immediately dismissed Branham.
The restaurants failure to recognize the constant bullying negatively impacted
Suttners self-confidence and mentality due to the physiological element of stress. It is
unfortunate that nobody seemed to care enough to come to Suttners aid, even though,
there were ample opportunities to save the teen.

Question 4

How do you deal with bullying at work, school or on social media? Are you
effective? Provide an example of how you handled a bullying situation in which either
you or your friend was involved.
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Social media is the easiest place to get bullied. Online bullies have the advantage
of being completely anonymous, which makes it nearly impossible to hold a person
responsible for their actions. They even get the convenience of harassing people from
the comfort of their own homes. Bullies are commonly described as heartless people
who prey on the weak, which is true but the present day online bully seems to be
interested in something else.

In these times, it seems that everybody has an opinion on everything and not
many are willing to change their stance. Posting a status over any slightly controversial
topic is going to attract opposition from the other side. Some of those who oppose will
make an argument but still respect the posters opinion while others will bully the
poster instead.

From personal experience, I have figured out that bullies who fight you over the
internet are most interested in the satisfaction of winning an argument. The most
effective way to take care of these bullies is to not engage in their war.

Bullies are constantly looking for something to feed off and giving in to their
argument is like fighting fire with fire. What needs to be done is to ignore these negative
comments. When you do not reply to the bullys comments, the bully will drive itself
crazy will leave you alone. The biggest mistake to cyber bullying is giving the bully what
they crave. Therefore, even when it may become incredibly frustrating the most
efficient approach to combat bullying on social media is to give nothing to those who
want to tear you apart.

Question 5

As a corporation, how should Dairy Queen move forward? Please provide a

strategy to restore the faith customers need to have in order to continue as Dairy
Queen Customers. If you believe, Dairy Queen, does not need to do anything then
support that strategy.
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Dairy Queen should not ignore this situation. Even though that specific DQ was a
franchised location, most people frankly do not care. Dairy Queens response to the loss
of Kenneth Suttners life has now permanently ingrained in peoples minds that the
establishment allows manipulative and hateful behaviors in their managers. This most
likely will cause significant decrease in the number of candidates interested in applying
to Dairy Queen as well as increase boycotts of their stores and cause decrease in sales.
If Dairy Queen is serious about fixing the damage this incident has caused to the
DQ brand, it is imperative that they issue a formal apology and take responsibility for
their negligence in appointing owners and managers who do not follow the employee
code of conduct. This would be an ideal time to crackdown on all DQ store employees
and implement new employee procedures to prevent something like this to happen
ever again. DQ should also emphasize the consequences to those who break company
policy.
Another suggestion is to launch an anti-bullying campaign, such as 50% of sale
proceeds donated to anti-bullying foundations. This would help counteract their current
image and show the American people that Dairy Queen does not stand for harassment.

The image Dairy Queen took so long create was a place where friends and family
could enjoy ice cream together but has now changed into a place where managers
harass employees to the point of absolute distress. It is in Dairy Queens favor to take
immediate action if they do not want to face the repercussions for many more years to
come.
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Reference

Andrews, Travis M. "A horribly bullied teen committed suicide. Now his former Dairy
Queen boss has been charged with involuntary manslaughter."
Washingtonpost.com. N.p., 2 Feb. 2017. Web. 7 Mar. 2017.

"Frequently Asked Questions." Dairy Queen. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2017.

Neck, Christopher P., Jeffery D. Houghton, and Emma L. Murray. Neck , C. (2017 ).
Organizational Behavior : A Critical - Thinking Approach . 1st ed. N.p.: SAGE,
2017. Print.