A US bank employee who reportedly died during her office shift reportedly spent five days in her chair before another employee noticed her death.
“It’s really heartbreaking and I think, ‘What if that was me sitting there? Nobody would check on her?’ It makes me sick to hear that she was sitting in the office like that… and nobody did anything. That’s how she spent her last moments,” a Wells Fargo bank employee who spoke on condition of anonymity told 12News, according to The Guardian on Thursday.
On August 20, Arizona authorities were called to the Wells Fargo bank office building after being contacted by building security about a “fallen employee” at work, according to the American media.
Upon arrival, emergency services reportedly confirmed the death of Denise Prudhomme, 60, who died in her work cubicle located on the third floor and away from the main aisle.
It was another employee who made the macabre discovery while walking around the floor.
Except that according to the investigation, the sixty-year-old had checked in when she arrived at work the previous Friday, around 7 a.m., and had not left the building since.
By the following Monday, employees reportedly began complaining about an unpleasant odor in the building, but assumed it was a plumbing issue, a second co-worker told 12News.
An investigation by Tempe police, in conjunction with the Maricopa County medical examiner, has been opened to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the employee’s death, but no foul play is suspected in the case.
For its part, the bank said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague,” through a spokesperson.
“Counselors, through our Employee Assistance Counseling Service, are available to support our employees. We are cooperating fully with the Tempe Police Department in their investigation,” he added, according to The Guardian.
