Amid a slew of chaos and controversy over fraud investigations, Wells Fargo has cultivated even more trouble as two former employees file lawsuits for wrongful termination.
The banking chain, which was fined by regulators for $185 million for opening fraudulent accounts, was also grilled on their unfair sales tactics and practices. Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf met with the Senate Banking Committee under accusations that the banks were coached to pressure employees into following the account opening practices and failing to make senior executives surrender pay for their part in the scandal.
The two former employees, Alexander Polonsky and Brian Zaghi, claimed that they were among the employees that were terminated because they did not meet the impossible quotas set by the bank. Both claim they were made an example of so other employees would be pushed into committing fraudulent actions in order to keep their jobs.
Both former bankers stated that the district managers of the banking chain constantly monitored employees and discussed progress towards their quotas four times daily. The goal, per both men, was eight Wells Fargo accounts per household.
“Managers often tell employees to do whatever it takes to reach their quotas,” the suit says. Workers who did not meet their daily quota were required to work extra hours without pay, they say.
The suit also states that the scam Wells Fargo was running was meant to squeeze employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers so that the CEO could drive up the value of Wells Fargo stock and put hundreds of millions of millions of dollars in his own pocket. Wells Fargo could then place the blame on thousands of $12 an hour employees who were just trying to meet cross-sell quotas that made the CEO rich.”
Wells Fargo has declined to comment on the suit.
