Wells Fargo ordered to pay largest individual whistleblower award in OSHA history
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday ordered Wells Fargo to pay the largest whistleblower award to a single individual in the agency’s history, providing a fresh stain to the San Francisco-based bank.
OSHA, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, also said Wells Fargo must compensate and immediately rehire the former manager, who worked in the Los Angeles area and was terminated in 2010. According to the agency, Wells Fargo retaliated against the employee after he reported separate incidents of suspected bank, mail and wire fraud by two bankers under his supervision.
Wells is also being ordered to provide back pay, compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees totaling about $5.4 million. OSHA, which does not disclose whistleblowers’ names, said the employee has been unable to find work in banking since his termination.
In an interview Monday, Barbara Goto, OSHA regional administrator based in San Francisco, told the Observer the behavior the employee reported is not connected to Wells Fargo’s sales scandal that erupted in September. In that matter, Wells Fargo employees opened accounts customers did not authorize in order to meet aggressive sales goals.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/banking/bank-watch-blog/article142475219.html
