OSHA Orders Wells Fargo to Reinstate Whistleblower
The bank has been ordered to fully restore the former manager's lost earnings in the banking industry. Wells Fargo plans to appeal.
OSHA announced it has ordered Wells Fargo Bank N.A. to compensate and reinstate a former bank manager who lost his job after reporting fraudulent behavior to superiors and a bank ethics hotline.
The manager was dismissed from his position at a Wells Fargo in Los Angeles after he reported separate incidents of suspected bank, mail, and wire fraud by two bankers under his supervision, according to OSHA's release. The agency enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and 21 other whistleblower laws.
An OSHA investigation concluded the whistleblower activity was at least a contributing factor in his termination. Wells Fargo has been ordered to fully compensate the employee for lost earnings during his time out of the banking industry. Wells Fargo can appeal the order before the Labor Department's Office of Administrative Law Judges, but that would not stay the preliminary reinstatement order.
Wells Fargo plans to appeal the order, NPR reported, citing a statement from the company.