Feds tell Wells to rehire whistleblower

Wells Fargo is having a hard time shaking off a string of missteps.

Federal regulators on Monday ordered the bank to reinstate a “highlevel banker” who had blown the whistle on two employees suspected of engaging in bank, wire and mail fraud.

The banker, who worked in Wells Fargo’s wealth management division, was fired in 2010 after blowing the whistle, according to the Labor Department’s Barbara Goto.

The regulator also ordered Wells to pay the unidentified banker $5.4 million in damages.

“It was alleged that this is what he reported to his supervisor, something he believed was going on, and as a result of reporting it, he was retaliated against,” Goto said.

The case isn’t related to other whistleblower complaints and class-actions lawsuits that have sprung up af- ter it was revealed last year that Wells Fargo engaged in a years-long scam to open up millions of fake accounts and credit cards in people’s names in order to boost sales numbers.

That scandal led directly to the ousting last October of then-Chief Executive John Stumpf.

Wells Fargo has 30 days to appeal Labor’s ruling. It indicated it is considering fighting the decision.

“We take seriously the concerns of current and former team members,” Vince Scanlon, a bank spokesman, said in a statement.

“This decision is a preliminary order and to date there has been no hearing on the merits of this case,” Scanlon said. “We disagree with the findings and will be requesting a full hearing of the matter.”

The case is OSHA’s largest-ever individual award for a person who claimed he was retaliated against, in part because his pay was already so high, Goto said.