Los Angeles sues Wells Fargo Bank

A Los Angeles lawsuit that echoed a Times investigation has revealed that rigid sales quotas at Wells Fargo Bank has driven employees to open unauthorized accounts for customers.

The civil complaint was filed on Monday in state court in Los Angele by City Atty. Mike Feuer stated that the largest California-based bank encouraged its employees to engage 'in unfair, unlawful and fraudulent conduct through a pervasive culture of high-pressure sales.

The lawsuit alleged that the employees misused customers' confidential information and often failed to close unauthorized accounts even after customers complained about the issue.

Some employees even raided client accounts for money to open additional accounts, the suit alleges.

"The result is that Wells Fargo has generated a virtual fee-generating machine, through which its customers are harmed, its employees take the blame, and Wells Fargo reaps the profit", the lawsuit alleges.

Wells has blamed a few rogue employees for the problem and the bank has appropriately disciplined or fired them.

The lawsuit further alleged Wells Fargo rarely took actions on its employees for unethical sales conduct. Instead, the bank victimized its customers by failing to inform them about the breaches.

The customers were not even informed about the refund fees, or about remedy for the injuries that Wells Fargo and its bankers have caused.

The bank said in a statement that Wells Fargo's culture is focused majorly on the best interest of its customers and creating a supportive, caring and ethical environment for their team members.

"This includes training, audits and processes that work together to support our Vision & Values and our commitment to customers receiving only the products and services they need and will benefit from", said Wells Fargo.