Wells Fargo worker’s reason behind dying revealed after colleagues discovered her lifeless in workplace cubicle after 4 days
An Arizona medical examiner has determined the cause of death for a Wells Fargo employee who was found dead in her cubicle after four days.
Denise Prudhomme, 60, entered the bank’s corporate office in Tempe, Arizona on Friday, August 16 at 7am but never scanned out.
Her body was finally discovered by a security guard four days later, on Tuesday, August 20, and called the local police department to report a ‘subject down.’
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office has now revealed that Prudhomme suffered a sudden cardiac death related to scarring of the heart muscle, Arizona Central reports.
Medical experts say heart attacks are the most common cause of scarring tissue on the heart, according to Arizona Family.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of death of a Wells Fargo employee who was found dead at her cubicle in August
Prudhomme’s death left many Wells Fargo employees distraught with the unsettling reality that their colleague’s passing went unnoticed for so long.
‘It’s really heartbreaking and I’m thinking, “What if I were just sitting there?”‘ one distraught employee told 12News. ‘No one would check on me?’
‘To hear she’s been sitting at the desk like that would make me feel sick,’ they added. ‘And nobody did anything. That’s how she spent her last moments.’
No missing persons reports were filed during the four days her body laid in the office, but some employees reported smelling a foul odor that they passed off as faulty plumbing.
The bank has since said Prudhomme worked in a section of the building that was less populated due to remote work arrangements.
One employee also told Arizona Central that security at the building rarely conducted checks between cubicles during their patrols.
‘Denise was the only person on her team in Tempe. This maybe one of the reasons why her desk was located in an underpopulated area of the building and nobody checked on her for four days,’ a union representing Wells Fargo employees said in the aftermath.
The Wells Fargo Workers United union went on to criticize the bank, claiming it intensely scrutinizes workplace behavior, but failed to act when Prudhomme stopped being active.
‘Wells Fargo monitors our every move and keystroke using remote, electronic technologies – purportedly to evaluate our productivity – and will fire us if we are caught not making enough keystrokes on our computers; however, Denise went unnoticed at her desk for four days,’ it said.
‘The contradictory nature of electronic surveillance versus an unnoticed death sheds light on the reality of what it means to be a worker at Wells Fargo.’
Prudhomme’s death also prompted a call for enhanced safety precautions that would alleviate employees’ stress.
‘The solution is not more monitoring, but ensuring that we are all connected to a supportive work environment instead of warehoused away in a back office,’ the union said.
