Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bank of America Statement on Death of Intern

A 21 year old intern died after working three straight days at the Bank of America.  Note that when the BOA released a statement, someone wrote it.


A 21-year-old intern who worked grueling hours at Bank of America's London office died just a week before his internship was to conclude. 
Moritz Erhardt, a University of Michigan student from Germany, reportedly had worked until 6 a.m. for three days straight and was found dead in his flat. Erhardt, who suffered from epilepsy, collapsed in his shower, according to reports.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt's death.  He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future. Our first thoughts are with his family and we send our condolences to them at this difficult time."
When someone puts a number like this ("our first thoughts") it is an indication that there were other thoughts following, at least a second thought. 
If the first thoughts were about his family, what were their second thoughts?  
Concerns of liability?  Blame?  
John McIvor, the bank's head of international communications, told CNBC.com that he could not confirm the circumstances surrounding Erhardt's death, though he did provide some insight into the life of an intern.
"The whole point about internships is to give students a positive experience and to get to know our firm and us to know them well, so we can work out who would be the best fit to join the company full-time after they graduate," he said.
"I'm not going to comment on what hours people choose to spend in the office voluntarily," he added. "But if you think about it logically, what we're trying to do is something that happens across all the big firms. We're looking to get to know them better."
The Independent reported that it spoke to others familiar with the matter who confirmed how grueling life can be for interns:
One former investment banker confirmed that interns could regularly work 14 hour days.
The banker, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Independent: "Interns can regularly clock up to 100 or even 110 hours a week, but people are fully aware that banking is hard work and the company constantly reminds you to manage upwards in order to not overheat. This is the first time I've heard of something like this happening and banking is a very close culture."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok so what are you hinting at this time Peter, he was murdered by someone at the bank? Oh wait maybe Hannah Anderson did it

C5H11ONO said...

"I'm not going to comment on what hours people choose to spend in the office voluntarily," he added. "But if you think about it logically, what we're trying to do is something that happens across all the big firms. We're looking to get to know them better."

What we say in the negative is highly important. He's not going to comment on what hours people choose to spend in the office is obviously very sensitive. Sensitive enough for him to add "voluntarily" as if he is trying to build a defense that this intern was putting in long hours voluntarily. The word was unnecessary and the sentence would have worked well without it. I anticipate that they are preparing for a lawsuit and their defense is that he put those hours in of his volition.

C5H11ONO said...

"What we're trying to do is something that happens across all the big firms".

They are trying to do it, but "try" means attempt, but failed. This death may be an example of how badly it failed.
I am interested in seeing why he chose to say "all the big firms". The reason I ask is that he could have said "it happens across all big firms" without saying "the" My SA guess here is that he knows exactly what other big firms are doing it, but does he know all the big firms.

The same thing happened when reviewing some statements made by one of the Zodiac suspects. He stated "Im not Zodiac". I was interested in that statement since it seems like a reliable denial, but everyone refers to the Zodiac as "the" Zodiac. Why was it excluded in a statement made in an excited utterance. Help me here SA enthusiasts!?

Anonymous said...

OT http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Trista-Reynolds-to-hold-press-conference.html

Anonymous said...

OT http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/253900/2/Aylas-mother-planning-to-release-new-information-next-month

C5H11ONO said...

The CIA has something to say about the coup in Iran 60 years ago: "We did it."

--Truthful statement? I don't see any qualifiers except for that pesky "we", but they are collectively known as the CIA and would it work in this case as a plural?
http://now.msn.com/cia-admits-it-was-behind-coup-in-iran-in-1953-1

sidewalk super said...



Sounds like the beating line that the FAMU students had to go through,...in that it is all fine until someone is abused more than they can tolerate, and the consequences are severe enough to bring attention to archaic and brutal practices.

In this case, sounds like overtime with no pay, sanctioned slavery,
abuse and intimidation.