A couple of weeks ago, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $185 million in penalties for perpetrating a massive fraud on customers. Wells Fargo executives boasted that they had fired 5,300 workers involved in improprieties, but not a single executive was punished. In fact, executives that literally oversaw the departments where the gargantuan fraud was committed were very well compensated, and lauded. Yesterday, Wells Fargo CEO—and blame-game champion—John Stumpf went in front of a Senate Banking Committee where he was rightfully castigated by Senator Elizabeth Warren for his “gutless leadership.” Part of Stumpf’s “apology” was to say that Wells Fargo didn’t do this as much as bad apples did it. It’s a similar defense used by people who murder citizens. Well, lookie here:
Now CNNMoney is hearing from former Wells Fargo (WFC) workers around the country who tried to put a stop to these illegal tactics. Almost half a dozen workers who spoke with us say they paid dearly for trying to do the right thing: they were fired.
"They ruined my life," Bill Bado, a former Wells Fargo banker in Pennsylvania, told CNNMoney.
Bado not only refused orders to open phony bank and credit accounts. The New Jersey man called an ethics hotline and sent an email to human resources in September 2013, flagging unethical sales activities he was being instructed to do.
According to Badu, he was fired for “tardiness” eight days after sending his email to the Wells Fargo “hotline.” Here’s CEO John Stumpf lying talking with the Senate Committee yesterday:
"Each team member, no matter where they are in their organization, is encouraged to raise a hand if they are being asked to do something they do not feel is right," Stumpf answered. He also said there was an anonymous ethics phone line employees could call.
I’m sure it says that in your big blue contract book, Mr. Stumpf, but let’s see how that works—cue former human resources worker at Wells Fargo speaking with CNN Money.
One former Wells Fargo human resources official even said the bank had a method in place to retaliate against tipsters. He said that Wells Fargo would find ways to fire employees "in retaliation for shining light" on sales issues. It could be as simple as monitoring the employee to find a fault, like showing up a few minutes late on several occasions.
"If this person was supposed to be at the branch at 8:30 a.m. and they showed up at 8:32 a.m, they would fire them," the former human resources official told CNNMoney, on the condition he remain anonymous out of fear for his career.
That’s some Grimm’s Fairytales type dark magic being practiced over there in the C-suites. Here’s Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) asking Stumpf about an email he received directly concerning these practices.
Before we move on the next panel, one final thought on the topic of Mr. Stumpf’s future as CEO. An exchange between him and Sen. Menendez could cause some trouble. Mr. Menendez read an email that he said was written in 2011 by Wells Fargo employee, reporting concerns about cross-selling pressure directly to the CEO.
Mr. Stumpf said “I don’t remember that one.”
Mr. Menendez replied: “Well, she was fired.”
Brutal.