Ex-exec also alleges hostile work environment and retaliation
One former Wells Fargo executive claims that she was raped by her superior while on a work trip, and the employer failed to act appropriately.
The employer also created a hostile work environment and even retaliated against her, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The incident happened on Jan. 28, 2020, when employees drove to Bakersfield, California to meet with a series of clients and prospects. They spent the night at the Padre Hotel.
The complaint details that after they went drinking at the bar, the complainant – who was hired as the company’s senior vice president and wealth advisor in or around April 2018 – was in her room when Eric R. Pagel, a senior investment strategist and managing director at Wells Fargo, came knocking at her door.
When she opened the door, Pagel barged in and began kissing the plaintiff. He then proceeded to sexually assault and rape her while she was intoxicated.
The following day, the victim’s memory of the rape came back to her in fragments. She remembered hearing Pagel remove his belt buckle and feeling him kissing her lips, her hip and her entire body.
On Jan. 30, 2020, Pagel admitted to the plaintiff that they had sex multiple times without contraceptives, and that he was aware that she was intoxicated, according to the lawsuit, as reported by NBC News.
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