An Arizona medical examiner has determined the cause of death of a Wells Fargo employee who was found dead in her cubicle after four days.
Denise Prudhomme, 60, entered the bank’s headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, at 7 a.m. on Friday, August 16, but never looked back.
Her body was finally discovered four days later, on Tuesday, August 20, by a security guard, who called local police to report a “person shot.”
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office has now revealed that Prudhomme suffered sudden cardiac death due to scarring of the heart muscle. This is reported by Arizona Central.
Medical experts say heart attacks are the most common cause of scar tissue on the heart. according to the Arizona family.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office has determined the cause of death of a Wells Fargo employee found dead in her cubicle in August
Prudhomme’s death left many Wells Fargo employees distraught by the disturbing reality that their colleague’s death went unnoticed for so long.
“It’s really heartbreaking and I think, ‘What if I just sat there?’” said one distraught employee 12News. “No one would check on me?”
“If I heard that she sat at the desk like that, I would be sick to my stomach,” they added. ‘And no one did anything. This is how she spent her last moments.”
No missing persons reports were filed during the four days her body was 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 part of the building that was less populated due to remote work.
One employee also told Arizona Central that building security rarely conducted checks between booths during their patrols.
“Denise was the only person on her team in Tempe. This may be one of the reasons why her desk was in an underpopulated part of the building and no one looked at her for four days,” a union representing Wells Fargo employees said in the aftermath.
The Wells Fargo Workers United union subsequently criticized the bank, claiming it closely monitors workplace behavior, but took no action when Prudhomme ceased operations.
“Wells Fargo monitors our every move and keystroke using remote electronic technologies – ostensibly to evaluate our productivity – and will fire us if we are caught not making enough keystrokes on our computers; However, Denise remained at her desk unnoticed for four days,” it said.
“The contradictory nature of electronic monitoring versus an undetected death sheds light on the reality of what it means to be an employee at Wells Fargo.”
Prudhomme’s death also prompted calls for better safety measures that would ease workers’ stress.
“The solution is not more monitoring, but ensuring we are all connected to a supportive work environment rather than being stored in a back office,” the union said.
