Wells Fargo ordered to pay $22 million for whistleblower retaliation

The Labor Department ordered Wells Fargo to pay more than $22 million after ruling that the company retaliated against an executive who alleged financial misconduct.

According to a Thursday release, the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Wells Fargo violated whistleblower protection laws for “improperly terminating” an unnamed senior manager.

The Chicago area-based manager, who worked in commercial banking at Wells Fargo, was fired after voicing repeated concerns about what they believed to be violations of financial law – including allegations of wire fraud, price fixing and being instructed to falsify customer information, the Labor Department said.

“Even though the manager believed the conduct was illegal based on company-required training, they were terminated in 2019,” the Labor Department wrote – adding that Wells Fargo later claimed the executive was fired “as part of a restructuring process.”

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Investigators later found that this termination “was not consistent” with that of other managers removed at the time, the Labor Department said. Alleging retaliation and violation of whistleblower protections under federal the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the executive then filed a complaint with OSHA.

In a statement sent to USA TODAY on Friday, Wells Fargo said the company disagrees with OSHA’s findings, “which were not based on an evidentiary hearing.”

“We intend to appeal to an Administrative Law Judge,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Wells Fargo has zero tolerance for acts of retaliation, and employees are encouraged to report concerns which will be promptly and thoroughly investigated.”

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Both the former executive and Wells Fargo have 30 days to file objections or request an administrative law judge hearing, the Labor Department said.

According to the Labor Department, the executive had reported the alleged misconduct to other managers and the company’s corporate ethics line – a contact for staff to report possible fraudulent activity, violations of Wells Fargo’s Code of Ethics and more.

“The evidence demonstrates Wells Fargo took retaliatory action against this senior manager for repeatedly expressing concerns about financial management they believed violated federal laws,” OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor Doug Parker said in a statement. “The Department of Labor will not tolerate employers who violate the law and illegally terminate workers that exercise their rights under the law.”

The $22 million that the Labor Department is ordering Wells Fargo to pay its former executive includes back wages, lost bonuses, interest and compensatory damages.

2020:Wells Fargo to pay $3B settlement for violating antifraud rules, resolving fake account probes  

Thursday’s Labor Department order isn’t the first time Wells Fargo has been accused of financial misconduct and whistleblower retaliation. In 2020, for example, Wells Fargo agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission $3 billion to settle criminal and civil investigations into the company pressuring employees to create millions of fake accounts to meet unrealistic sales goals.

The fake account scandal first came to light in 2016. At the time, former Wells Fargo employees told CNN that they were retaliated against after using the corporate ethics line.

Contributing: The Associated Press