Related: Wells Fargo silent about probe for 6 months She said the bank has been "very open and very transparent" about this issue and reiterated, "There is no place for retaliation at Wells Fargo." Wells Fargo later said it is in fact under SEC investigation, although it's not clear precisely what the agency is probing.Īsked about the potential legal impact, the Wells Fargo spokeswoman said: "We're in constant contact with our regulators." Last year, Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the SEC to look into whether the bank violated whistleblower protection laws, citing CNNMoney's reporting. Federal law, including elements of both Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank, makes it illegal to suppress whistleblowing. "We will have to work through that with that individual," the Wells Fargo spokeswoman said.Įqually unclear is any legal fallout if Wells Fargo admits to instances of retaliation. It's not clear what, if anything, Wells Fargo will do to help employees it confirms were victims of retaliation. Related: Wells Fargo dumps toxic 'cross-selling' metric "They ruined my life," Bado told CNNMoney. His house was on the verge of being foreclosed on and he worked part-time at the grocery store chain Shop-Rite. Bado's financial troubles worsened after that. The firing also put a stain on Bado's securities license, and he found he couldn't get hired in the industry. Eight days after sending the email, Bado was terminated - for tardiness. Bado even provided a September 2013 email to human resources flagging these concerns. Many former employees shared stories with CNNMoney about how their lives were turned upside down when they lost jobs following calls to the ethics line.įor instance, Bill Bado, a former Wells Fargo banker in Pennsylvania, recounted his call to the ethics hotline about being instructed to open phony bank and credit accounts. Related: I called the Wells Fargo ethics line and was fired Wells Fargo also said it is expanding the review to include reports to the ethics hotline in which employees received "corrective action short of termination" within 12 months of making the call. Still, he said, "Anything more than zero is too large." Sloan, who took over in October after longtime CEO John Stumpf abruptly retired last year, said these claims that are receiving further scrutiny are a "very small number." She added, "Where we have cause for concern, we're going to keep looking further." Asked to clarify if that means there were signs of retaliation, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman told CNNMoney: "Yes, that is how I would read it."
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