Nov 26, 2008 9:32 pm US/Pacific
Wells Fargo Ordered To Pay $25K To Whistleblower
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
The U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it has ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to pay back wages and lost bonuses, with interest, and $25,000 in reputational damages to an employee who was wrongfully transferred after he questioned the legality of a co-worker's sales activities.
The action against the San Francisco-based bank resulted from a whistleblower investigation conducted by the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's regional office in San Francisco.
Department of Labor officials say the investigation substantiated the employee's complaint that he was improperly transferred from one Bay Area bank branch to another in retaliation for alerting management that a co-worker violated Securities and Exchange Commission rules by recommending unsuitable investments to customers and encouraging them to purchase securities held by a separate company.
OSHA regional administrator Ken Atha said in a statement, "It is vital that employees be able to raise fraud concerns to their employers without fear of retaliation."
Atha said, "This order reaffirms both the right of employees to raise concerns regarding violations of Securities and Exchange Commission rules and the Labor Department's commitment to take the necessary steps to protect that right."
In addition to requiring that compensation be paid to the complainant, OSHA's order instructs Wells Fargo to immediately reassign the complainant to the original branch, to expunge the personnel file of references pertaining to the complaint and to post a notice to employees in all California branches outlining employee whistleblower protections.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and 16 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, workplace safety and health regulations, and consumer product safety laws.
Wells Fargo released a statement, reading, "We don't agree with the findings and intend to appeal to an administrative law judge. Wells Fargo insists on maintaining the highest ethical standards, and we'll continue to do so."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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