Su Taraskiewicz?(Not sure if I spelled the name right) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

GrissomFan12767 · 03-05-2009, 06:34 PM

I was wondering if anyone remembered this case or knows if it was ever solved. Su Taraskowitz was a flight director or something like that. Anyways she was the only female who was and she was promoted or something like that. Afterwards she started getting harassed and stalked by someone. She was found dead in the trunk of her car and they never solved the murder. I always felt for her mother everytime I saw the episode re-air. I think her mother and friends believed some or all of her co-workers were involved. Anyways does anyone know if it was solved??? I really hope her mother was able to find closure...

cmyweb · 03-05-2009, 10:27 PM

"Su Taraskiewicz was a ramp supervisor at Northwest Airlines when she was murdered. Police still searching for her killer."

To my knowledge, her killer has (sadly) never been brought to justice. Here is a link on this board with more discussion:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=168532

UMfan77 · 03-06-2009, 10:56 AM

This segment is very creepy, all those threats to that poor woman. The drawing on her locker of a casket with her name on it is downright freaky. I can't believe this all happened to her just because she got promoted to supervisor. She was a woman? So what! The night she died, someone probably knew that she was going to the sub place that night and they followed her and killed her. I have a hard time believing that it was random.

Todd Mueller · 03-06-2009, 11:43 AM

Northwest Airlines should be ashamed of how they handled that case back then. The harassment went on for way too long and was way too serious to not take severe, swift action.

I'm not convinced that her death was related to the harassment, but in any event it is a tragedy that she died and a tragedy that she had to endure all those months of abuse for no reason. Very, very sad.

GrissomFan12767 · 03-06-2009, 12:36 PM

Awww I was really hoping this one had been solved. It's shame it hasn't been. Thanks for the info guys. I hope they're able to find her killer or killers one day.

TracyLynnS · 03-06-2009, 02:18 PM

I don't want to slander a whole industry, but they're not exactly known for their boy scout behavior. Especially on the east coast (where Su worked), they're still making headlines for stealing baggage and running drugs.

I think Su was killed in the 80s (coulda been early 90s). At that time, she was a woman working in what was still a man's field. She suffered such an extensive amount of harassment that I believe her murder was directly connected to it. They threatened to kill her and they did, imo.

GrissomFan12767 · 03-07-2009, 08:53 AM

Yeah I always thought some or all of her co-workers where involved as well...

Oldschooler81 · 08-10-2009, 05:53 PM

BUMP

Quote:

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

I don't want to slander a whole industry, but they're not exactly known for their boy scout behavior. Especially on the east coast (where Su worked), they're still making headlines for stealing baggage and running drugs.

I think Su was killed in the 80s (coulda been early 90s). At that time, she was a woman working in what was still a man's field. She suffered such an extensive amount of harassment that I believe her murder was directly connected to it. They threatened to kill her and they did, imo.

Even though it was probably just in pockets, it's unsettling that there was still elements of sexism as late as the '80s. Not like the old fashioned "Where's my dinner?" types when it was still widely accepted by society, but more like the "I don't want a woman telling me what to do" kind of way. I even kinda remember that as a kid and even then I thought it was stupid.

I wonder why Su herself was targeted so much, though? I bet it was a combination of corruption and a percentage of sexist guys. From what I can tell about her (according to her mom and what the segment portrayed), she seemed to be a pretty strong, determined type of girl who wouldn't take crap from anyone... so I bet that just escalated it over the edge.

She was being harrassed even before her promotion, like with that one jerk breaking her portable radio, and it just got progressively worse with time, though.

In the segment, she did seem close to SOME of her co-workers though, so I bet it's even harder to determine who was for real and who might've had a beef with her.

LooksLikeCRicci · 08-10-2009, 09:16 PM

I think Su may have been targeted because she lost out on a promotion that she should have had. From my recollection, she appealed that decision and WON. I'm sure that created a lot of resentment, especially in a field that's dominated by men.

What makes me so sick about the case is that she was missing for HOURS and no one reported her gone. I share the opinion of several of you: that she was targeted by her co-workers and murdered.

On a somewhat happier note, I know that Su's parents DID win a lawsuit against the airline for the way they handled Su's case. Not a lot of justice for her, but even a little is better than none...

TracyLynnS · 08-10-2009, 09:24 PM

Yep, sexism in the workplace was really alive and kicking, still in the 80s. I worked in the billing department of a car dealership back then. I got called into the service manager's office "to take down a letter".

That manager wasn't my boss and my job was in no way related to his. I wasn't his secretary, and if he wanted a letter written, he was supposed to write it himself. But I was young, dumb, and a girl, so I wrote the stupid letter while he acted as inappropriate as possible.

On top of that creep, the owner's grandson was constantly coming on to me, groping me, and hanging around in my office all day, disrupting my job with his sex talk, while he didn't do his job because his paycheck was guaranteed by granddad.

I lasted 3 months. I lined up a job at the bank behind their backs, told them to eff off, and quit with no notice! lol

Back then, women had to put up with the unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate conversation, and everything, if they wanted to keep their job.

Nowadays, my daughter runs her own department at a car dealer. She's armed and doesn't take any crap off of any man, and thankfully, she doesn't have to in order to keep her job. The men on her staff learned who was boss real quick. She had to pull a knife on two of them, when they tried to get grabby, so some learned the lesson a little harder than the others. :P

kadrmas15 · 08-11-2009, 12:14 AM

Well in this case, yes, it is my opinion that Taraskowitz's death was directly related to NWA (now Delta Air lines) in some way. Yes that is quite suspicious how she 'disappeared' for several hours when she was just going on her meal break to get some food and she does not return for hours yet no one reports her missing or even asks where she is and why she has not returned to work? I think more than one person was in on it and knew it was going to go down before it went down. The one dude that was depicted in the segment 'Bobby' the guy that made threats to her, made the drawing to her locker, broke her radio, etc, I think everyone agrees that he was in some way, shape or form involved in what happened here. In my opinion he was directly involved in the killing and that he had probably boasted to others before and after the fact that he was going to do this and basically told all of his co-workers to make themselves scarce while doing the deed.

Oldschooler81 · 08-11-2009, 08:12 PM

I agree Kadramas - somehow I think more people at NWA were in on it than the segment even portrayed. The fact that nobody reported her missing after she went to get sandwiches is suspicious and uncaring in the very least - even if they're innocent. Maybe the industry was so corrupt, nobody was willing to side with her besides her female friend interviewed in the segment. According to her diary, the ones who did support her got their cars vandalized too, so maybe they agreed with her, but over time just weren't strong enough to stand up out of fear of retribution. Just like gangs and stuff (like the Jenny Pratt attack), it sadly works like that alot.

Yeah, that Bobby guy probably was one of the most directly involved. I can't imagine why anyone would have that much of a vendetta simply over her suing over a promotion and becoming a woman in charge, but history has shown people do weird things sometimes.

P.S. Tracylynn, way to go (same with your daughter).

It's scary to think stuff like that was going on that late. Maybe not as overt as in the "old days" (like the 40s), but men could get away with sexual harrassment or belittling women easier, even from what I can tell in movies and tv shows.

You know what? I'm a huge '80s fan, but in a way I'm glad I wasn't a teen or adult then, because things like that would definitely have soured my more innocent firsthand perspective of it.

TracyLynnS · 08-11-2009, 11:19 PM

Oldschooler,

My sister in law was born in Nov. 1979, so she was a kid during the 80s. Her memories of childhood during that decade were all good and she has never had to put up with sexism in her career.

And you know, for working women in the 80s, it still wasn't even possible or the victim to sue for sexual harrassment. Seems like the Anita Hill testimonies helped change that later in the decade. At least I think that was part of what helped turned things around...

Ladies just didn't have the laws and the resources to support them back then. I think things are getting quite a bit better in the 21st century, though. After the bad work enviornment at the dealership, in my later employment, I never had to deal with such things again.

Oldschooler81 · 08-14-2009, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

Oldschooler,

My sister in law was born in Nov. 1979, so she was a kid during the 80s. Her memories of childhood during that decade were all good and she has never had to put up with sexism in her career.

And you know, for working women in the 80s, it still wasn't even possible or the victim to sue for sexual harrassment. Seems like the Anita Hill testimonies helped change that later in the decade. At least I think that was part of what helped turned things around...

Ladies just didn't have the laws and the resources to support them back then. I think things are getting quite a bit better in the 21st century, though. After the bad work enviornment at the dealership, in my later employment, I never had to deal with such things again.

Ah, good stuff - she's close to my age and I'm like that too. I'm especially a huge fan of the music, and just the overall feel of the times. Then again, I guess as kids you don't have experiences of workplaces for long (other than, like if you go into your parents' office really quick or something), so luckily I had no idea about that stuff at the time too.

A little off subject...but I totally just realized this right now. One reason I'm thinking the 80s might've been so ancient in terms of sexual harrassment and ways it treated women (not everyone of course, but in pockets), could be the en masse influence of older people still in the workforce who grew up in a time when that was still kinda accepted. Like in 1985 you had people born in the '20s still in control.

I'm in no way suggesting every man from then is barbaric or thinks that way, but a small percentage might. I wonder if NWA was like that when Su worked there, like the president could've been a 60-year old pig and it was just something that was overlooked or tolerated among the employees. Maybe he wasn't that way himself, but could've resented a young woman being in such power, explaining why she had to appeal her decision? If it was corrupt at all, that could also explain how they were able to get away with drug smuggling, as the segment said.

Things like this usually aren't an issue with the younger generations (unless they were staunchly raised that way), but probably the somewhat older people who have the ability to influence thinking in the media, etc. Kinda like today with homosexuality/gay marriage, or in the 60s with civil rights.

TracyLynnS · 08-14-2009, 03:48 PM

Older folks bringing old fashioned ideas about race and sex into the workplace are definitely a possibility. The people who caused the sexism issues at my work were at least a generation older than me.

My husband used to work for a guy who's a generation older than us. His views on women, including his wife and two daughters, is that "women are for f***ing". That's it. The guy doesn't think of women beyond a sexual use. And I just about died when he said that about his own two daughters, who were around 20 years old. That kind of thinking is beyond crazy, imo.

03-05-2009, 06:34 PM	#1
GrissomFan12767 Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Mar 05, 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 3	Su Taraskiewicz?(Not sure if I spelled the name right) I was wondering if anyone remembered this case or knows if it was ever solved. Su Taraskowitz was a flight director or something like that. Anyways she was the only female who was and she was promoted or something like that. Afterwards she started getting harassed and stalked by someone. She was found dead in the trunk of her car and they never solved the murder. I always felt for her mother everytime I saw the episode re-air. I think her mother and friends believed some or all of her co-workers were involved. Anyways does anyone know if it was solved??? I really hope her mother was able to find closure...

03-05-2009, 10:27 PM	#2
cmyweb Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jan 04, 2009 Posts: 85	"Su Taraskiewicz was a ramp supervisor at Northwest Airlines when she was murdered. Police still searching for her killer." To my knowledge, her killer has (sadly) never been brought to justice. Here is a link on this board with more discussion: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=168532

03-06-2009, 10:56 AM	#3
UMfan77 Member Senior Member Join Date: Nov 28, 2003 Posts: 1,064	This segment is very creepy, all those threats to that poor woman. The drawing on her locker of a casket with her name on it is downright freaky. I can't believe this all happened to her just because she got promoted to supervisor. She was a woman? So what! The night she died, someone probably knew that she was going to the sub place that night and they followed her and killed her. I have a hard time believing that it was random.

03-06-2009, 11:43 AM	#4
Todd Mueller Member Senior Member Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 1,626	Northwest Airlines should be ashamed of how they handled that case back then. The harassment went on for way too long and was way too serious to not take severe, swift action. I'm not convinced that her death was related to the harassment, but in any event it is a tragedy that she died and a tragedy that she had to endure all those months of abuse for no reason. Very, very sad.

03-06-2009, 12:36 PM	#5
GrissomFan12767 Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Mar 05, 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 3	Awww I was really hoping this one had been solved. It's shame it hasn't been. Thanks for the info guys. I hope they're able to find her killer or killers one day.

03-06-2009, 02:18 PM	#6
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	I don't want to slander a whole industry, but they're not exactly known for their boy scout behavior. Especially on the east coast (where Su worked), they're still making headlines for stealing baggage and running drugs. I think Su was killed in the 80s (coulda been early 90s). At that time, she was a woman working in what was still a man's field. She suffered such an extensive amount of harassment that I believe her murder was directly connected to it. They threatened to kill her and they did, imo.

03-07-2009, 08:53 AM	#7
GrissomFan12767 Member Forum Hawk Join Date: Mar 05, 2009 Location: Georgia Posts: 3	Yeah I always thought some or all of her co-workers where involved as well...

08-10-2009, 09:16 PM	#9
LooksLikeCRicci Likes to live in a clean house Moderator Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 27, 2005 Posts: 4,050	I think Su may have been targeted because she lost out on a promotion that she should have had. From my recollection, she appealed that decision and WON. I'm sure that created a lot of resentment, especially in a field that's dominated by men. What makes me so sick about the case is that she was missing for HOURS and no one reported her gone. I share the opinion of several of you: that she was targeted by her co-workers and murdered. On a somewhat happier note, I know that Su's parents DID win a lawsuit against the airline for the way they handled Su's case. Not a lot of justice for her, but even a little is better than none...

08-10-2009, 09:24 PM	#10
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	Yep, sexism in the workplace was really alive and kicking, still in the 80s. I worked in the billing department of a car dealership back then. I got called into the service manager's office "to take down a letter". That manager wasn't my boss and my job was in no way related to his. I wasn't his secretary, and if he wanted a letter written, he was supposed to write it himself. But I was young, dumb, and a girl, so I wrote the stupid letter while he acted as inappropriate as possible. On top of that creep, the owner's grandson was constantly coming on to me, groping me, and hanging around in my office all day, disrupting my job with his sex talk, while he didn't do his job because his paycheck was guaranteed by granddad. I lasted 3 months. I lined up a job at the bank behind their backs, told them to eff off, and quit with no notice! lol Back then, women had to put up with the unwanted sexual advances, inappropriate conversation, and everything, if they wanted to keep their job. Nowadays, my daughter runs her own department at a car dealer. She's armed and doesn't take any crap off of any man, and thankfully, she doesn't have to in order to keep her job. The men on her staff learned who was boss real quick. She had to pull a knife on two of them, when they tried to get grabby, so some learned the lesson a little harder than the others. :P

08-11-2009, 12:14 AM	#11
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	Well in this case, yes, it is my opinion that Taraskowitz's death was directly related to NWA (now Delta Air lines) in some way. Yes that is quite suspicious how she 'disappeared' for several hours when she was just going on her meal break to get some food and she does not return for hours yet no one reports her missing or even asks where she is and why she has not returned to work? I think more than one person was in on it and knew it was going to go down before it went down. The one dude that was depicted in the segment 'Bobby' the guy that made threats to her, made the drawing to her locker, broke her radio, etc, I think everyone agrees that he was in some way, shape or form involved in what happened here. In my opinion he was directly involved in the killing and that he had probably boasted to others before and after the fact that he was going to do this and basically told all of his co-workers to make themselves scarce while doing the deed.

08-11-2009, 08:12 PM	#12
Oldschooler81 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 03, 2009 Location: Northern CA Posts: 457	I agree Kadramas - somehow I think more people at NWA were in on it than the segment even portrayed. The fact that nobody reported her missing after she went to get sandwiches is suspicious and uncaring in the very least - even if they're innocent. Maybe the industry was so corrupt, nobody was willing to side with her besides her female friend interviewed in the segment. According to her diary, the ones who did support her got their cars vandalized too, so maybe they agreed with her, but over time just weren't strong enough to stand up out of fear of retribution. Just like gangs and stuff (like the Jenny Pratt attack), it sadly works like that alot. Yeah, that Bobby guy probably was one of the most directly involved. I can't imagine why anyone would have that much of a vendetta simply over her suing over a promotion and becoming a woman in charge, but history has shown people do weird things sometimes. P.S. Tracylynn, way to go (same with your daughter). It's scary to think stuff like that was going on that late. Maybe not as overt as in the "old days" (like the 40s), but men could get away with sexual harrassment or belittling women easier, even from what I can tell in movies and tv shows. You know what? I'm a huge '80s fan, but in a way I'm glad I wasn't a teen or adult then, because things like that would definitely have soured my more innocent firsthand perspective of it.

08-11-2009, 11:19 PM	#13
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	Oldschooler, My sister in law was born in Nov. 1979, so she was a kid during the 80s. Her memories of childhood during that decade were all good and she has never had to put up with sexism in her career. And you know, for working women in the 80s, it still wasn't even possible or the victim to sue for sexual harrassment. Seems like the Anita Hill testimonies helped change that later in the decade. At least I think that was part of what helped turned things around... Ladies just didn't have the laws and the resources to support them back then. I think things are getting quite a bit better in the 21st century, though. After the bad work enviornment at the dealership, in my later employment, I never had to deal with such things again.

08-14-2009, 03:48 PM	#15
TracyLynnS Don't Look Up Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 3,107	Older folks bringing old fashioned ideas about race and sex into the workplace are definitely a possibility. The people who caused the sexism issues at my work were at least a generation older than me. My husband used to work for a guy who's a generation older than us. His views on women, including his wife and two daughters, is that "women are for f***ing". That's it. The guy doesn't think of women beyond a sexual use. And I just about died when he said that about his own two daughters, who were around 20 years old. That kind of thinking is beyond crazy, imo.