The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) levied a hefty penalty on Wells Fargo on September 1, 2022, for its violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”). OSHA found that the company unlawfully retaliated against an internal whistleblower who raised concerns that the bank was engaged in illegal practices. The agency ordered Wells Fargo to pay the whistleblower more than $22 million in damages, including back pay, front pay, interest, lost bonuses and benefits, and compensatory damages.
The anti-retaliation provision of SOX, 18 U.S.C. § 1514A, makes it illegal for publicly traded companies to retaliate against employees for raising concerns that a company’s conduct violates SOX, including its bans on mail fraud (Section 1341), wire fraud (Section 1343), bank fraud (Section 1344), and securities fraud (Section 1348); “any rule or regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission;” or “any provision of Federal law relating to fraud against shareholders.” 18 U.S.C. § 1514A(a)(1). Importantly, SOX protects whistleblowers from retaliation for raising both internal and external complaints. Id.
A senior manager in Wells Fargo’s commercial banking unit, based in Chicago, escalated concerns to managers and the company’s ethics hotline that Wells Fargo was violating various financial laws by engaging in price fixing, interest rate collusion, and the falsification of customer information. Wells Fargo fired the employee in 2019 without providing a reason, but...
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