A 21-year-old German student, who had found a place with Bank of America's summer internship program, was found dead in his shower on August 15. Moritz Erhardt had epilepsy and his cause of death has yet to be determined, but reports that he had pulled three all-nighters in a row have prompted questions about whether interns are dangerously overworked. Erhardt was found unconscious at Claredale House, a student residential facility in East London. He was pronounced dead at the scene after being treated by paramedics, said the police spokesman, who asked not to be identified, citing agency policy.
Erhardt graduated high school at Faust-Gymnasium in Staufen, Germany. He attended WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany and also did a semester abroad early this year at University of Michigan's prestigious Ross School of Business. He was seven days away from completing a seven-week internship at the bank as he attended the Vallendar, Germany, business school. The young man had also worked at KPMG Consulting, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank AG's corporate finance division.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Moritz Erhardt's death," John McIvor, a bank spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday. "He was popular amongst his peers and was a highly diligent intern at our company with a promising future." However, Erhardt's death sparked some concern online, where several anonymous posters suggested the intern was working long hours before he died. "One of the best interns," one person wrote on WallStreetOasis.com. "3 all nighters...didn't turn up, colleagues went to find him...heart attack."
The spokesman said the bank was waiting for the facts about Erhardt's death before deciding whether to review its internship program. Some politicians and an intern campaign group condemned the workload on interns dubbed "slavery in the city" by one British newspaper, calling on the banks to take measures to ensure their staff were not worked to exhaustion. Nevertheless, some interns put up with that kind of stress just to secure a job at an important company. "People push themselves because they want an offer with the bank and the chance of a great career and great money," said one former intern from a major U.S. bank who secured a job after the summer. "This is a golden path."
Cass Business School professor Andre Spicer told CNN interns are expected to work long hours to show their commitment to prospective employers, rather than being productive. "The real reasons are cultural. All-nighters are seen as a rite of passage," Spicer said. "They show an intern is willing to push themselves beyond any reasonable limits at work ... if large firms hope to be sustainable and attractive to employees, they need to tackle the extreme hours culture," he said.
Erhardt was in the sixth week of a seven week internship when he died. Bank of America's interns have since been told they can leave the program early without negatively affecting chances of future employment.
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