Wells Fargo Class Action: Ethical Employees Threatened with Retaliation

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A group of Wells Fargo Bank employees say the bank threatened them with unlawful retaliation for failing to engage in unethical sales conduct.

Echoing another employee class action lawsuit brought last September by two former bank employees, 11 employees of Wells Fargo now say the bank compelled them to inflate sales figures by opening new accounts that customers never agreed to open and to open accounts for nonexistent customers.

The employees allege the bank created an ethically corrupt environment in which those who engaged in such practices were rewarded while others who stood against them were threatened with discipline or termination.

According to the Wells Fargo employee class action lawsuit, the bank sought to increase its stock price by setting ridiculously high sales goals for its employees.

The plaintiffs claim Wells Fargo set a standard of having eight accounts, or “solutions,” per customer – far in excess of the industry standard of three accounts per customer. These sales goals could not realistically be met without engaging in underhanded behavior, the employees claim.

Employees ended up opening accounts for existing customers without those customers’ consent, they say. Some employees would even be pressured to open bogus accounts in the names of nonexistent customers in a desperate effort to reach sales goals, the plaintiffs allege.

This Wells Fargo employees class action lawsuit alleges the bank aggressively and unlawfully encouraged this practice among its employees by threatening retaliation against workers who refused to engage in sales misconduct.

Such employees were “routinely counseled, warned, written up, demoted, placed on performance improvement plans, forced to quit, denied promotions, or fired as a result of not meeting sales goals, even though they could have easily met such goals by engaging in Sales Misconduct,” according to the plaintiffs.

This adverse employment treatment was a manifestation of Wells Fargo’s “coach them up or coach them out” management strategy, plaintiffs claim. Employees knew that if they refused to engage in unethical conduct, they could be disciplined and eventually lose their livelihood.

At the same time, employees who resorted to unethical behavior were rewarded with promotions, raises and bonuses, the plaintiffs say.

The plaintiffs are proposing to represent a Class encompassing all current and former U.S. employees of Wells Fargo who were subject to the sales goals at issue and who were not terminated for engaging in sales misconduct.

Within that Class are several proposed subclasses consisting of Class Members who, for example, suffered adverse employment actions for not satisfying sales goals, reported concerns about sales misconduct, or who were terminated or constrictively discharged for reporting or refusing to engage in such misconduct.

The plaintiffs are seeking an award of damages, including two times the amount of back pay for alleged violations of the Dodd-Frank Act and treble damages as applicable under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. They also seek reinstatement for eligible Class Members under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Law Offices of Jonathan J. Delshad PC, Schonbrun Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP, McCracken Stemerman & Holsberry LLP, and Pessah Law Group PC.

The Wells Fargo Employee Rights Class Action Lawsuit is Kevin Hogan, et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-07360, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.