A New York state Division of Well being worker who was charged with stalking and harassing relations of the slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been placed on depart from his job.
Shane Daley, 40, was arrested final week and accused of “sending harassing and threatening voicemail messages to a member of the family” of Thompson, in line with authorities.
His employer stated Tuesday in an announcement that Daley was positioned on administrative depart.
“This alleged conduct on no account displays the Division’s values or mission,” a spokesperson for the division stated. “We condemn hate speech, harassment of victims of a mindless crime and any threats of violence.”
Daley’s legal professional, Samuel Breslin, stated in an e-mail that his shopper’s “rights, together with the presumption of innocence, are preserved as we proceed to evaluation the info and proof.”
Daley is from Galway, New York, about 35 miles northwest of Albany. He was employed on the state’s Division of Well being in January 2024, in accordance the company’s spokesperson.
Authorities stated that Daley made threatening cellphone calls to Thompson’s relations from Dec. 4 to Dec. 7 within the hours simply after the late CEO was gunned down on the streets of midtown Manhattan.
“In a sequence of voicemail messages, Daley used threatening and harassing language that centered on, amongst different issues, Thompson’s killing, expressed satisfaction over the actual fact and method of his dying, and acknowledged that the sufferer and Thompson’s kids deserved to fulfill the identical violent finish,” prosecutors stated in an announcement final week.
Daley was launched from custody beneath GPS monitoring, officers stated final week. He’s additionally briefly prohibited from acquiring firearms or consuming alcohol.
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in December by a masked gunman outdoors the New York Hilton lodge in midtown Manhattan, hours earlier than he was set to talk at UnitedHealth Group’s investor convention.
After a dayslong manhunt for the gunman, authorities arrested Luigi Mangione, 27, and charged him with state and federal expenses in reference to Thompson’s homicide. Mangione pleaded not responsible to all the expenses. He may face the dying penalty if convicted of federal expenses.
Thompson’s killing and Mangione’s arrest prompted a nationwide debate in regards to the excessive prices of healthcare in the USA. A authorized protection fund for Mangione has surpassed $1.2 million since he was arrested in December.
On Tuesday, Mangione’s attorneys filed a letter requesting an evidentiary listening to to debate what they are saying is prosecutorial misconduct on the a part of the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace of their pursuit of Mangione’s medical information.
“This calculated lack of transparency is regarding, because the information that Aetna produced contained medical diagnoses and statements made by Mr. Mangione to well being care suppliers to obtain medical care and remedy,” one in every of Mangione’s attorneys, Karen Agnifilo, wrote in a letter to the choose.
Mangione is scheduled to subsequent seem in state courtroom on Sept. 16.
