Unfair business practices are a serious issue that can weaken a strong, diversified economy such as the one driving California’s prosperity. A hidden danger in ending bad practices can be the unfair termination of dedicated employees who attempted to rectify problems from inside a large business.
An international banking organization recovering from charges of widespread unethical processes is the target of a new suit, now for wrongful termination. A married pair of former regional presidents claims they were dismissed after trying to get superiors to address bad-faith sales practices.
The firings came a few weeks after a highly-publicized purge of higher-ranking executives for their roles in a scandal involving fake accounts and illegal sales. The regional presidents say they complained about and reported accounts and sales that seemed fake but were fired to appease regulators and the public.
Other executives who still work for the organization are also named in the lawsuit, which alleges that several leaders encouraged illegal conduct and remained at their posts or were promoted. A spokesman of the bank denied the allegations.
The suit includes charges of wrongful termination, retaliation and defamation, as the pair of plaintiffs were labeled untrustworthy in the rationale used for their dismissal. This followed the pair’s combined 40 years of services in locations across southern California.
The loss of income, damage to job prospects and emotional distress has led the plaintiffs to seek $50 million in damages. Legal representation is an essential component of a well-researched and forceful lawsuit for wrongful termination.
Source: Los Angeles Times, “Former Wells Fargo executives say they were scapegoated for accounts scandal,” James Rufus Koren, Sep. 01, 2017