Bank of America: The Death of an Intern

Authors
Gago, O., Valdivia, M.K., and O'Rourke, J.S. (Editor)
Region
Africa
Europe
Latin & South America
North America
Topic
Strategy & General Management
Marketing & Sales
Length
24 pages
Keywords
Brand Management
Conflict Management
crisis management
financial
International
reputation management
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students

On August 15th 2013, Moritz Erhardt was found dead at his student housing. The official cause of death was an epileptic seizure possibly caused by the long hours and lack of rest associated with his work, after pulling “all-nighters” and “magic-roundabouts” for three days in a row during his summer internship in the investment banking area at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

Learning Outcomes
  1. To highlight the conflict that arises as a company attempts to balance public perception of responsibility with the corporation’s own belief of responsibility;
  2. To exhibit the social responsibility a company faces when tragedy occurs within the organization;
  3. To provide an example of how the media affects public perception of an organization and an industry;
  4. To encourage discussion regarding the level of responsibility a company faces to change industry practices after a tragedy within the organization.