Yesterday, September 23, 2024, the union that represents the employees of Wells Fargo released a statement regarding the death of Wells Fargo employee Denise Prudhomme. Prudhomme died at her desk in August 2024 at the Wells Fargo office in Tempe, AZ and wasn't discovered for four days. According to AZ Central:
During the four days that Prudhomme was in the office, her key card showed no record of her leaving the building. No missing persons reports were initiated during that time, according to police.
Sources that spoke with The Arizona Republic said that Prudhomme worked in a part of the building where people typically worked from home and the area was unpopulated. . . . Security rarely checked between cubicles during their patrols, one source told The Republic.
I found the full text of the statement on the subreddit r/WellsFargoUnited, which is a "Union page for Wells Fargo Workers United. The statement critiques Wells Fargo's lack of communication regarding Prudhomme's death, Wells Fargo' contradictory surveillance practices, and the company's arbitrary return to office and "hub city" policies. The statement ends with demands for better transparency and safety precautions, reevaluation of the company's relocation and return to office policies, and a call for more worker representation in decision making. You can read the statement here, and I've also typed it, below:
Statement on Recent Loss of Wells Fargo Co-Worker Denise Prudhomme
We are saddened and outraged by the devastating tragedy and loss of our coworker, Denise Prudhomme, who worked as a Business Execution Consultant in Corporate Banking in Tempe, Arizona. This tragedy reminds us why it is so important for us to have a true voice and exercise our rights at work.
Like so many of us who work in corporate offices or call centers, our team members and direct supervisors are frequently located in states hundreds, or thousands, of miles away. Denise was the only person on her team in Tempe. This may be one of the reasons why her desk was located in an underpopulated area in the building and nobody checked on her for four days. 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. 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.
Wells Fargo has been implementing mandatory "return to office" policies requiring employees to come into the office, even if all of their team members and direct supervisor live and work in another state. These arbitrary new policies are being imposed on many of us who have worked fully remote for years—long before the COVID pandemic began. Further, Wells Fargo's new "hub city" policy is forcing thousands of employees to uproot their families or lose their jobs at an unspecified date causing additional heightened stress for scores of employees working out of smaller offices for no apparent reason, and certainly not for the benefit of us employees.
We demand better transparency and safety precautions. Not notifying employees of a coworker's death for days is just the most tragic example of our employer's lack of transparency.
We demand improved safety precautions that are not punitive or cause further stress for employees. 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.
We demand Wells Fargo reevaluate its arbitrary "hub city" relocation plan and "return to office" policy. These plans and policies have only further damaged employee morale.
Finally, we demand and deserve a true voice at work so we can have a seat at the table to determine how we can be as effective and productive as possible in our roles so we can make Wells Fargo a truly great place to work.
AZ Central reports that Wells Fargo also released a statement, "reiterating its commitment to supporting employees and their families during difficult times":
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague, Denise Prudhomme. Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones, and we have been in touch to ensure they are well supported during this difficult time," the statement read.
AZ Central also explains that:
Wells Fargo policy required notifying the family before communicating the death to employees, and it took the police some time to complete the next-of-kin notification, according to the bank. . . . "For any employees with specific concerns, we encourage them to continually share their feedback, as this helps us build a stronger company," a company statement read.
