Statement on the Recent Loss of Wells Fargo Co-Worker Denise Prudhomme

For Release September 23, 2024
Contact: Sean Nesmith ([email protected]), CWA Communications, (202) 340-4361

(NATIONWIDE) – Today, over 200 Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA members and bank workers across the financial services industry have released the following letter in response to the recent loss of Wells Fargo coworker Denise Prudhomme, a Wells Fargo Business Execution Consultant based in Tempe, Ariz., who tragically passed away at her Wells Fargo office on August 20 after showing up to work four days prior. The following statement will be delivered in-person to branch leadership around the country:

We are saddened and outraged by the devastating tragedy and loss of our coworker, Denise Prudhomme, who worked as a Business Execution Consultant in Corporate Banking in Tempe, Arizona. This tragedy reminds us why it is so important for us to have a true voice and exercise our rights at work.

Like so many of us who work in corporate offices or call centers, our team members and direct supervisors are frequently located in other states hundreds, or thousands, of miles away. Denise was the only person on her team in Tempe. This may be one of the reasons why her desk was located in an underpopulated area in the building and nobody checked on her for four days. Wells Fargo monitors our every move and keystroke using remote, electronic technologies - purportedly to evaluate our productivity - and will fire us if we are caught not making enough keystrokes on our computers; however, Denise went unnoticed at her desk for four days. The contradictory nature of electronic surveillance versus an unnoticed death sheds light on the reality of what it means to be a worker at Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo has been implementing mandatory “return to office” policies requiring employees to come into the office, even if all of their team members and direct supervisor live and work in another state. These arbitrary new policies are being imposed on many of us who have worked fully remote for years - long before the COVID pandemic began. Further, Wells Fargo’s new “hub city” policy is forcing thousands of employees to uproot their families or lose their jobs at an unspecified date causing additional heightened stress for scores of employees working out of smaller offices for no apparent reason, and certainly not for the benefit of us employees.

We demand better transparency and safety precautions. Not notifying employees of a coworker’s death for days is just the most tragic example of our employer’s lack of transparency.

We demand improved safety precautions that are not punitive or cause further stress for employees. The solution is not more monitoring, but ensuring that we are all connected to a supportive work environment instead of warehoused away in a back office. 

We demand Wells Fargo reevaluate its arbitrary “hub city” relocation plan and “return to office” policy. These plans and policies have only further damaged employee morale. 

Finally, we demand and deserve a true voice at work so we can have a seat at the table to determine how we can be as effective and productive as possible in our roles so we can make Wells Fargo a truly great place to work.

In tandem with the letter, workers have shared over 50 personal comments. The full letter and comments can be found here. Workers and supporters who are interested in signing the petition and sharing their personal experiences can visit this site. 

The worker organizing effort at Wells Fargo is the first of its kind at a major bank in the United States. In their organizing campaign, Wells Fargo workers are showing the banking industry and the entire country what is possible when workers come together and use their collective voice. 

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About Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA

The Committee for Better Banks’ Wells Fargo Workers United-CWA is the only public effort by Wells Fargo employees to organize a union. With a union, workers are seeking to address chronic understaffing, unfair sales pressure, and unreasonable workloads to improve their working conditions and allow them to better support Wells Fargo customers. Since the union’s launch in 2021, Wells Fargo workers across virtually every state Wells Fargo operates in are organizing with WFWU-CWA, collaborating with shareholders, members of Congress, and officials at the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury to drive accountability at the country’s fourth largest bank.

About the Committee for Better Banks

The Committee for Better Banks, the only independent voice for frontline bank employees, comprises bank workers, community and consumer advocacy groups, and labor organizations coming together to improve conditions in the banking industry. Committee for Better Banks members include current and former employees of banks and credit unions across the country, including Beneficial State Bank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Santander, Citibank, and Bank of America.