Wells Fargo Whistle-Blowers’ Fate Becomes Just a Footnote -<br />In November, the newly installed Wells Fargo chief executive, Timothy J. Sloan, told employees<br />that retaliation against whistle-blowers would “not be tolerated at Wells Fargo.”<br />Hope Hardison, Wells Fargo’s chief administrative officer, told me this week<br />that it was “critically important” that all 270,000 Wells Fargo employees feel “safe and comfortable” reporting questionable conduct.<br />Ms. Hardison said that after the investigation conducted with Shearman & Sterling, as well as an in-depth review by another third party, Wells<br />Fargo had not substantiated a single instance of retaliation so far, while conceding that a few cases might be “cause for concern.”<br />In the Wells Fargo footnote, lawyers at Shearman & Sterling largely exonerated the bank.<br />In a 78-page preliminary finding, recently disclosed by American Banker, an OSHA administrator ruled<br />that there was “reasonable cause to believe” that Wells Fargo had engaged in retaliation when Ms. Ponce de Leon was fired in 2011 after raising questions about fraudulent account openings; Wells Fargo is contesting that ruling.<br />In Ms. Ponce de Leon’s case, Wells Fargo insisted that she was fired for excessive drinking<br />and for a “long, well-documented history of unprofessional conduct,” according to the preliminary OSHA ruling.<br />The OSHA ruling cited 20 pages of commendations spanning six years<br />that Ms. Ponce de Leon had received as a Wells Fargo employee — the most recent just six months before she was fired.
