Former Wells Fargo Managers Sue the Bank -- WSJ
September 06 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Emily Glazer
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (September 6, 2017).
Two former managers have sued Wells Fargo & Co., claiming
they were unfairly fired over the bank's sales-practices
issues.
Reza Razzaghipour and Marla Razzaghipour claimed their
dismissals were retaliation for them raising issues with senior
managers about the questionable sales practices, such as
falsification of bank records, according to a lawsuit filed Aug. 31
in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The former managers, who are husband and wife, were fired in
March 2017 from positions overseeing regions in Southern
California. Combined, the two managed about 3,500 staff, The Wall
Street Journal previously reported.
A Wells Fargo spokesman said in a statement Tuesday that the
bank "denies the allegations of these two former regional
presidents. The termination decisions were not retaliatory as
alleged in the complaint. The company terminated the employment of
these two individuals for legitimate and lawful reasons."
Wells Fargo was ordered to pay a $185 million fine last year
over its sales practices and has since faced public and political
pressure as the scandal erupted. More than 5,300 employees were
fired over a five-year period for the behavior. The bank said last
week up to 3.5 million customer accounts may have been
unauthorized.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Razzaghipour reported one type of
employee fraud in 2013 and fired a "significant number of employees
involved." The lawsuit also alleges that Mrs. Razzaghipour, known
to some at work as Marla Clemow, "reported the illegal and
unethical sales practices at the highest levels multiple
times."
Both former managers "never fired or disciplined anyone for
failing to meet the bank's impossible and fraudulent sales goals,"
the lawsuit claimed.
But some current and former employees and managers have told The
Wall Street Journal that Mr. and Mrs. Razzaghipour pushed them to
engage in questionable sales tactics.
"My clients were fired in retaliation for complaining of illegal
conduct at Wells Fargo, including the bank's improper sales
practices," the managers' lawyer Emanuel Shirazi, of Los
Angeles-based Shirazi Law Firm, said in a statement. "Despite
knowing this, Wells Fargo chose to scapegoat Mr. & Mrs.
Razzaghipour."
The lawyer didn't comment specifically on the employee
allegations.
The Razzaghipour's lawsuit also names several retail-banking
executives, some of whom are still employed by the bank and others
who were fired, as the real "bad actors."
The managers requested their payroll and personnel files from
Wells Fargo, which refused to produce them, according to the
lawsuit. They then filed a complaint with the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing. In the lawsuit they ask for damages of at
least $50 million.
Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2017 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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