

Intern dies after ‘working until 6am for three days’ at Merrill Lynch - samspenc
http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/20/intern-moritz-erhardt-dies-after-working-until-6am-for-three-days-at-bank-of-america-merrill-lynch-in-london-3930924/

======
rayiner
There was almost certainly drugs or some sort of heart condition involved.
Unfortunately, congenital defects can go unnoticed until circumstances like
these.

The idea that three long days, alone, is what killed him is ridiculous. Going
a few days with just a couple of hours of sleep a night is something many
people do at points in their lives (e.g. working parents with small children
when they get sick). And the "100 hour" weeks mentioned in the article are
stressful, but again, nothing a working mom (or dad!) with a baby hasn't
experienced.

~~~
leeoniya
agreed. what ridiculous sensitization of long work hours and "banking
culture".

none of this stuff is unique. people can survive a week with 4 hours of sleep,
while performing physical labor 20+ hours per day...all without dying.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_SEAL_selecti...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_SEAL_selection_and_training#Phase_1:_Physical_Conditioning_.287_weeks.29)

how about 260 hours with no sleep?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Gardner_%28record_holder%...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Gardner_%28record_holder%29)

every time stuff like this floats to HN's front page, i wonder where this
community is heading.

[EDIT] Seals can sleep up to 4 hours in a 5.5 day period.

~~~
MartinCron
_people can survive a week with no sleep, while performing physical labor 24
/7...all without dying_

Sure, most people can survive like that. Others probably can't. I would like
to think that being a banking intern is less physically taxing and dangerous
than being a Navy Seal.

~~~
itengelhardt
Not to mention that the SEALs that make it to hell week have been sifted quite
a bit already. The "weakest" are already gone by then

~~~
leeoniya
yes, probably not the best example. however, i'll put my money on 99.99% of
participants not dying from 2-3 hours of daily sleep for 3 days.

i dont remember myself dying while pulling this off more times than i care to
count.

------
dtf
Sensationalism aside, this kind of work culture makes for pretty grim reading.

"One intern, who worked at one of the American “bulge-bracket” firms,
memorably described the experience of working all night only to start the new
day an hour later: “Every intern’s worst nightmare is what’s called ‘the magic
roundabout’,” he told the Standard, “which is when you get a taxi to drive you
home at 7am and then it waits for you while you shower and change and then
takes you back to the office.”"

[http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/inside-
the-w...](http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/inside-the-world-of-
the-all-night-army-of-banking-interns-8776134.html)

There's a certain machismo attached to pulling all-nighters. I think many
developers can relate to that.

~~~
rayiner
Lame. My last job had showers on site.

------
jakub_g
BTW a question regarding HN ranking.

This story has now 26 points after 41 minutes and is placed 83th (was 30th
when I entered) whereas a story posted 4hrs ago ("Mattermark Index: Y
Combinator Summer 2013 Companies") has 27 points and is on the front page.

Can someone explain that? I though that new stories with similar score should
be much higher.

Are there negative votes on submissions possible (and I don't see them due to
karma thresholds)?

------
bherms
Makes no mention of the hours he worked being actually tied to his death.
Sensationalism and baiting much?

------
swalsh
Back when I was a junior developer, I spent months working literally 16-18
hours a day for weeks. There were also my fair share of 26 hour days. I burned
out eventually which lead to depression, and lack of motivation, and all kinds
of bad things personally and professionally.

But I didn't die. I'd be willing to bet there were more relevant health
related issues with this young man.

Edit: I also developed an unhealthy addiction to energy drinks and caffeine. I
gave up the energy drinks because my chest started to hurt, but the caffeine
is still required to fend off head aches.

------
basseq
Reminds me of the Ogilvy employee who died, allegedly of overwork.[1] With the
risk of being seen as a corporate apologist, I'll say that it's really tough
to tie this directly to overwork and not to a preexisting condition.

E.g., { People Who Die } ∩ { People Who Are Overworked } ≠ { People Who Die
From Overwork }

[1] [http://adage.com/article/global-news/young-ogilvy-china-
staf...](http://adage.com/article/global-news/young-ogilvy-china-staffer-s-
death-raises-issue-overwork/241500/)

~~~
jessaustin
_preexisting condition_

I appreciate what you're saying, and of course we don't really know what
happened here, but outliers are people too. Humans vary in a number of
different traits. If 1% of interns will suffer an injury from working 100
hrs/wk, (hopefully a larger percentage will "suffer" from fuck-you-i-quit-
itis) that is an argument for interns not working 100 hrs/wk. It might also be
an argument for not hiring "weak" interns, if it's possible to weed them out
in an interview.

------
randyrand
I absolutely hate this shitty type of journalism. Not only is the implication
that this would directly kill a young man absolutely false - it is also
disrespectful both to the deceased and to his family to turn what would
otherwise be a normal death (most likely caused by a seizure) into a political
spectacle just to deplore banks.

The lengths we go to promote our own political agendas is sickening.

My condolences to the family.

------
ghc
I don't think you can die from overwork at that age. This is, frankly, nothing
compared to some of the long hours we worked in project groups at Georgia Tech
from CS class final projects.

It's more likely that he had an unknown condition that surfaced due to bodily
stress than that he dropped dead from overwork. Well, that or he was keeping
himself awake with pills.

------
darkchasma
A decade ago I would go weeks working 18-20 hour days, 7 days a week. It
wasn't good for my health, cost me my marriage, and started a dependency on
alcohol. However, it certainly didn't kill me. I'd like to know the cause of
death here, because working 100 hours a week isn't entirely uncommon in our
line of work.

------
csdrane
I saw in another article that Erhardt had been reportedly died due to a
seizure. What happened to him is absolutely horrible. Hopefully someone more
knowledgeable about such matters can chime in about whether exhaustion
actually might have triggered the cause of death.

~~~
NegativeK
Even if his death isn't related to his work schedule in any manner, 100+ hour
work weeks are an absolutely insane concept.

~~~
droopybuns
/s/100+ hour work weeks/100+ hour unpaid work weeks

~~~
baturay
implying that ibanking interns do not get paid.

[http://www.glassdoor.com/Intern-Salary/Merrill-Lynch-
Interns...](http://www.glassdoor.com/Intern-Salary/Merrill-Lynch-Internship-
Salary-E440.htm)

------
gte910h
Mandating them encourages drug use to get there, stay awake, etc.

They ARE dangerous. It isn't like humans stay awake on their own for 3 days.
Drugs are required to do that practically speaking

------
jessaustin
" _Bank of America_ Merrill Lynch"

------
dylangs1030
This title is about as meaningful as saying, "Intern dies after taking shower"
or "Intern dies after moving to United States."

Correlation does not imply causation; 100 hours of work is something parents
in their 30s and 40s frequently do. For a 20 year old, this alone would just
be tiring. He died from something else.

Flagged for sensationalism and linkbait.

------
meritt
Correlation does not imply causation.

