Wells Fargo Employee Passed Away In Her Cubicle At Work — And No One Noticed Until 4 Days Later
Her death has highlighted the lack of empathy and care that many corporate leaders fail to show their employees.
SeventyFour | Shutterstock Wells Fargo executives and the company as a whole are now being faced with criticisms and backlash over how they treat their employees after a woman working for the financial services company in Arizona was found dead at her desk.
The grim and saddening event has highlighted the lack of care that many employers have when it comes to the people who work for them.
She was found passed away at her cubicle at work, but no one noticed until 4 days later.
Denise Prudhomme, 60, was found slumped over in her cubicle at the bank’s corporate office in Tempe on Tuesday, Aug. 20. According to the Tempe Police Department, Prudhomme had clocked in for her shift at 7 a.m. but reportedly never clocked back out for the day.
After discovering her unresponsive at her desk on the third floor, security called the police, but it had been four whole days since she passed. No one had noticed her absence, making this entire incident that much more heartbreaking.
"To hear she’s been sitting at the desk like that would make me feel sick," an employee at Wells Fargo told K12News, an NBC affiliate. "And nobody did anything. That’s how she spent her last moments."
Another employee who spoke with 12News anonymously said a colleague found Prudhomme while walking around the building. The employee said others had smelled a foul odor but initially passed it off as faulty plumbing.
They said while most employees at the Wells Fargo office work remotely, the building has 24/7 security and someone should have found Prudhomme sooner.
"That's the scary part. That's the uneasy part," the employee said. "It's negligence in some part."
This is both a deeply troubling and distressing situation.
Prudhomme spent her last few hours at work, where she was probably a dedicated and hardworking employee. The fact that her death went unnoticed for that many days proves that there was a lack of accountability and awareness among executives at this company.
So often, we hear corporate leaders talking about how employees need to be dedicated to their jobs; they need to live and breathe working.
fizkes | Shutterstock
And yet, when it comes to an employee's personal well-being, corporate executives don't seem to care as long as the numbers look good and the profit is coming in.
But these are actual human beings working for these companies. People with families. People with friends and loved ones. People who have lives outside of the office. And who knows, had someone noticed Prudhomme earlier, there may have been the opportunity for medical intervention.
Police confirmed there was nothing suspicious about the 60-year-old woman's death.
While authorities haven't released specific details on Prudhomme's cause of death, the Wells Fargo employee who spoke with K12News pointed out that it's the lack of information from the bank that has been incredibly frustrating. "I'm just wondering why they didn't formally address employees about it?" they questioned.
This isn't the first time that Wells Fargo has faced accusations for the way they treat their employees. In November 2016, several employees spoke with CNN following the bank's admittance to creating as many as 2 million unauthorized accounts and firing 5,300 workers since 2011.
"They don't care about us. All they care about is money in their pocket," Jane, a Wells Fargo collections worker who was being treated for depression and anxiety due to the high-stress environment, told the news outlet. "Wells says they are there for us. I have not seen it."
Workers even claimed that they were being refused bathroom breaks, which both former and current employees at the time said resulted in stomach-related health issues. Speaking with CNN, almost half a dozen Wells Fargo workers say they were fired prior to the settlement after calling the confidential ethics hotline.
"If and when we do speak up, it's disregarded," said Barbara, a Wells Fargo employee who works on auto loans. "They will twist what you say to make it seem like you're crazy."
While it's unclear whether Prudhomme's death was brought on by the stress of her job or if she had any pre-existing conditions, what is clear is the fact that Wells Fargo failed not only her but their other employees as well.
Despite not speaking out about Prudhomme's passing, the company has made it abundantly clear through their actions that the well-being of their workers doesn't seem to be at the forefront of their minds.
It's disheartening to know that no matter how much effort, dedication, and energy you put into a company, there still seems to be a lack of empathy and care. Our thoughts are with Prudhomme's family.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.