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U.S. Department of Labor | April 3, 2017
SAN
FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has
ordered Wells Fargo Bank N.A. to compensate and immediately reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job
after reporting suspected fraudulent behavior to superiors and a bank ethics hotline.
The manager, who had previously
received positive job performance appraisals, was abruptly dismissed from his position
at a Wells Fargo branch in the Los Angeles area after he reported separate incidents
of suspected bank, mail and wire fraud by two bankers under his supervision. He
was told he had 90 days to find a new position at Wells Fargo, and when he was
unsuccessful, he was terminated. He has been unable to find work in banking
since his termination in 2010.
An OSHA investigation concluded that
the former manager’s whistleblower activity, which is protected under the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act, was at least a contributing factor in his termination.
OSHA does not release names of whistleblower complainants.
In addition to reinstating the employee
and clearing his personnel file, Wells Fargo has been ordered to fully
compensate him for lost earnings during his time out of the banking industry.
Back pay, compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees were together calculated at
about $5.4 million. Wells Fargo also must post a notice informing all employees
of their whistleblower protections under Sarbanes-Oxley, widely known as “SOX.”
Wells Fargo can appeal the order before
the department’s Office
of Administrative Law Judges, but such action does not stay the
preliminary reinstatement order.
OSHA enforces the whistleblower
provisions of SOX and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report
violations of airline, commercial motor vehicle, consumer product,
environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear,
pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws.
More information is available at www.whistleblowers.gov. For information about OSHA, visit http://www.osha.gov.
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Media Contacts:
Jose A.
Carnevali, 415-625-2631, carnevali.jose@dol.gov
Amanda Kraft, 202-693-4664, kraft.amanda.c@dol.gov
Release Number: 17-394-NAT
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