A student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has filed a lawsuit against an adviser at the school who allegedly hid that he had been texting with the drunk driver responsible for the 2013 death of the student’s mother.
Megan Mengelt’s mother, Maureen Mengelt, was killed in 2013 when then-Lutheran Bishop Bruce Burnside struck and killed her while driving his car. Bishop was intoxicated and texting with Tori Richardson, an assistant dean at the university, while driving to a church event.
The lawsuit states that a few days after the crash, Richardson reached out to Megan Mengelt offering to help, but he did not mention that he had been texting with Burnside on the night of her mother’s death, according to Madison.com.
Richardson continued to counsel Mengelt in the months following her mother’s death and solicited information about the criminal case against Burnside, as well as a potential civil lawsuit Mengelt was considering filing, the lawsuit alleged. Mengelt did not learn that Richardson had been texting with Burnside before the crash until January 2015.
In a deposition for a separate lawsuit related to the incident, Richardson acknowledged that he did not tell Mengelt that he had been texting with Burnside before the crash, according to Madison.com.
Mengelt filed the lawsuit April 5, stating that Richardson misrepresented himself, causing her to share information that she would not have divulged otherwise, according to Madison.com.
When the University of Madison discovered Mengelt’s allegations, they suspended Richardson without pay for 30 days, according to Madison.com. However, an investigation found that Richardson did not inappropriately share student information, according to the school.
“However, it was determined that while his actions were within his job duties, Richardson’s conduct was not in line with our expectations for employees,” university spokesman John Lucas said in a statement.
In testimony, Burnside said that Richardson did visit him once after the crash. “He told me one time that he had been contacted by the Sun Prairie police and they — but that’s all,” Burnside said. “But there was never any conversation about the Mengelts, no,” Burnside said, according to Madison.com.
And I am reading this on TPM because…???
It’s her own fault for trusting a bishop and an assistant dean academic advisor. What was she thinking?
To say nothing of the Worst Headline Ever – reads like an intern’s first draft at the National Enquirer.
Talk about a breach of ethics – and morality.
You know, folks, you really don’t have to read articles that don’t interest you nor do you have to click the comment button, and you really aren’t compelled to respond. We really do have choices here.