Bank Of America Employees Are Allegedly Going ‘On Strike’ After A Co-Worker Passed Away From ‘Overwork’ After Working 120 Hours A Week
While the story is not confirmed, it still sheds light on a dangerous trend.
Tada Images / Shutterstock Many in corporate America are expected to work long hours with little time for other things in life. That’s reportedly what happened to one Bank of America employee who may have passed away from being overworked.
An internet rumor stated that Bank of America employees plan to go on strike after an employee’s death was potentially caused by work.
Journalist Jack Mac from Barstool Sports compiled information from different social media sources to explain what was going on with Bank of America.
“Junior investment bankers at Bank of America are planning on going on strike tomorrow morning, May 6, after one of their colleagues, a former Green Beret in the United States Army, passed away due to reportedly being overworked,” Mac said in a TikTok video.
No official sources have confirmed that a strike actually took place. It’s unclear what the exact situation at Bank of America is right now.
A post, which was used in Mac’s video, began circulating online from the website Wall Street Oasis, where Wall Street employees can share their experiences. In the post, a person who goes by the username bronzbomba claimed that a group of employees from Bank of America was planning to go on strike.
Their alleged demands included the leader of FIG, the Financial Institutions Group, losing their job and the bankers not being forced to work more than 100 hours a week.
According to Mac, the “overworked” employee was working for up to 120 hours each week and surviving on energy drinks.
eFinancial Careers cited “unsubstantiated social media posts” that said the same thing.
X account Wall Street Gossip reported that no strike occurred and that there were concerns about the authenticity of the Wall Street Oasis account that reported the strike in the first place.
While the truth of what happened is unclear, this isn’t the first time something similar has happened at Bank of America.
In 2013, an intern named Moritz Erhardt passed away while working for Bank of America. According to The Guardian, Erhardt “died of an epileptic seizure.” He allegedly worked for three days straight without a break.
The Guardian reported, “The coroner Mary Hassell said fatigue could have been a trigger, but there was no proof of this, and it was possible that the seizure was something that just happened.”
Despite the fact that the seizure could have been a random occurrence, many believe this intern died because of his work schedule at Bank of America.
What really did or did not happen in the recent death of a Bank of America employee is unknown for now. What is known is that this is serious.
Until further reporting comes out, we can’t be sure there was even the death of a Bank of America employee.
As Mac said, “There is not a lot out there for me to verify any of this information.”
However, this rumor still brings a disturbing trend to light — that of investment bankers being overworked.
The fact that the strikers’ alleged demand was for workweeks to be limited to 100 hours proves just how hard these employees are working.
Typically, a full-time employee works 40 hours a week. These investment bankers work more than double that amount. Even an intern works more than full-time hours.
If this is common practice for banks, it is incredibly dangerous. The World Health Organization conducted a study on the effects of overwork on the body. They found, "working 55 or more hours per week is associated with an estimated 35% higher risk of a stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to working 35-40 hours a week.”
While this case is still unconfirmed, it seems entirely possible that someone could literally drop dead from working too much.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.