Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
A decision has been made to switch off the life support of a KFC worker who overdosed after family claimed she was ‘bullied at work’.
On two separate occasions, 32-year-old Emma Price complained to her bosses that she was being overworked, while her co-workers would stand around idle, but her family have alleged that those pleas fell on deaf ears.
Emma Price had two meetings with her bosses where she is believed to have complained about bullying in the workplace. (Facebook/Emma Price)
Speaking to SWNS, her parents explained how Emma, of Essex, England, would come home in floods of tears due to stresses at work.
She told her family that when she did sit down with her managers they said she was the one ‘causing trouble’.
Her mom, Samantha Day, said: “It was just after Christmas, she told her bosses that she was being bullied. They said ‘no you’re not, you’re just causing trouble’.
“She said people were talking about her behind her back, and when she told them she could hear them, they’d say ‘yeah and?’.
“She was rushed off her feet, working three different parts of the job at once, while the others just stood around watching her. It would be ‘Emma’s moaning again, she always moans’.”
The 56-year-old added: “She’d come home crying and we told her that she needed to find another job. It was not a nice environment for her to be working in.”
Emma Price with her father David Price. (Facebook/David Price)
In the eight years that the Brit was under employment for the fast-food giant, she worked her way up to the role of team leader – but it was with these added duties that the bullying allegations began, at the back end of last year.
Emma, of Basildon, was due to have an appointment with a mental health charity on Monday (15 July), but in the days leading up to it she overdosed on painkillers.
Dad, David Price, discovered her daughter in bed where she had suffered a stroke and brain damage – and is now paralysed on her right side.
Speaking about it, the 60-year-old said: “I went up there to wake her up at 2pm in the afternoon – she was unresponsive in her bed. Her brother had to do CPR – she wasn’t breathing very well and we called an ambulance.”
Emma, who worked at the companies Pitsea branch, has been placed on a ventilator – the only thing keeping her alive.
But, according to the family’s GoFundMe page, the decision has been made to switch off the machine, with her brother Thomas writing that it was due to her having ‘no brain activity’.
A spokesperson for KFC said: “What’s happened is devastating and our thoughts are with Emma and her family at this difficult time.
“Maintaining a working environment that is safe and inclusive for all team members is of the utmost importance to us.
“These allegations are being taken extremely seriously. We’ve had contact with Emma’s family, and an urgent investigation into the matter is already underway.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741