Wells Fargo Ordered to Reinstate Whistleblower
July 21 2017 - 05:26PM
Dow Jones News
By Yuka Hayashi
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department on Friday ordered Wells Fargo
& Co. to reinstate a former employee who was terminated in 2011
after she raised concerns that her subordinates were opening
accounts without customer consent.
The department also ordered Wells Fargo to pay the former
employee $577,000 in back wages, damages and attorney fees.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency and the Los Angeles City Attorney fined
the bank $185 million last September for allegedly opening as many
as 2.1 million accounts nationwide by using fictitious or
unauthorized customer information.
The order Friday involved a former branch manager in Pomona,
Calif., who was fired after reporting suspicious conduct by at
least three private bankers working under her. The department
didn't identify the former employee.
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said Friday the bank disagreed with
the findings in the preliminary order and would request a full
hearing of the matter. "We take seriously the concerns of current
and former team members," she said.
The department said the bank could appeal its decision but an
appeal doesn't halt the preliminary reinstatement order.
Regulators said last year they found the bank had long ignored
hundreds of whistleblower complaints about such sales practices and
an employee incentive structure that fueled the conduct. The bank
agreed to pay the fine and settled the regulators' allegations
without admitting or denying them.
The Labor Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission
have been investigating allegations that the bank may have violated
whistleblower protection rules by firing employees who reported
suspicious conduct. "No banking industry employee should fear
retaliation for raising concerns about fraud and practices that
violate consumer financial protections," said Barbara Goto, a
department regional administrator in San Francisco, on Friday.
The department also ordered Wells Fargo to post a notice
informing employees of their whistleblower protections under the
law.
Write to Yuka Hayashi at yuka.hayashi@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 21, 2017 17:11 ET (21:11 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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