Companies have been facing suicide among their employees, which, according to Dejours and Bègue (2010), is a negative consequence of a new work organization. The focus of this study is to evaluate whether work was related to the decision of committing suicide, in a case of a bank employee. The qualitative significance of his death was evaluated from the point of view of his brother (both have been coworkers for over 20 years) who was interviewed in 2009. This analysis produced a great volume of data and information on the subject under study, and they were processed and analyzed by means of categorical analysis. The worker, who had been employed at a bank for three decades, committed suicide in 2004, just one year before his retirement and right after his wife had filed for divorce. Work was the context for understanding the process that led to the collapse of his family, to his psychological illness and, finally, to his suicide. This case did not involve bullying, since he was considered of good repute, but involved a pathology associated to voluntary servitude, which has been increasingly stimulated as symbol of success. At work, the primary cause of the suicide was attributed to marital problems, conveniently exempting responsibilities for the misfortune and blaming solely the subject for his personal conflicts or mental disorders.
suicide; bank employee; work organization; occupational health