The old saying our mothers told us, “You are going to work yourself to death”, has happened. Intern, Mortiz Ehrhardt, was found dead in his room where he was staying. This is because of working for three days and nights in the summer internship for Bank of America. On August 15, 2013, Ehrhardt became ill as he was taking a shower. Bank of America and Merill Lynch released the following statement:
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“We are deeply saddened and amazed by the message of the death of Maurice Ehrhardt. Colleagues loved him, he was very diligent intern. His waiting promising future. Our condolences to his family at this difficult time.”
Based on the report by police, there was no sign of suicide or murder. The social media networks revealed that Ehrhardt suffered from epilepsy and this may have been part of the cause of death. The trainee who found Ehrhardt said that he (Ehrhardt) was dedicated to his job and would do nothing to jeopardize it. The training that the interns have to go through consists of 7-10 weeks and are told to go to several different branches. Often, they are told to do 24-hour shifts.
Ehrhardt was from Germany and had studied at the University of Michigan and was on the summer internship at the London office for
the USA bank. Despite the enthusiasm that many of the young people have when starting to work for the big corporations, there has to be something done to limit their time. Often times they are cheap labor that many companies don’t want to have to pay an experienced employee to do. This often results in experienced employees quitting for unfair treatment. After the death of Ehrhardt, there was a letter sent to all the tenants that there was nothing to be afraid of and that the death of Ehrhardt was not murder.
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The death of this employee is sure to spark a debate on the fairness of the interns in Bank of America. With the many things that could have been done to save the 21-year-old’s life to prevent it, the fault lies on Ehrhardt alone. Surely, the bank didn’t force him to work those long hours. If they did, then it is quite possible that there will be a lawsuit following this one from the families of Ehrhardt. Whatever the reason, hopefully there is going to be things that are not going to tarnish any names.
