Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf Steps Down
I highly recommend listening to a recent episode[1] of Planet Money. This was by no means an accident. As a short summary of one employee's plight:<p>Ashley, working for them and making only $35k per year in San Francisco, was continually harassed to sign people up for accounts they didn't want. An old man comes in, pensioner, $200 in overdraft fees due to being duped into excess accounts. She dips into her own savings to get him back in the black. She reports the incident to the internal ethics line. Nothing. Tries again. Nothing. She refuses to fraudulently push excess accounts onto people. Fired. Worse, Wells Fargo put her onto a permanent blacklist that others in the industry pay attention to - she can't get a job anywhere else.<p>Imagine making $35k per year in San Francisco - insanely low given the region - and dipping into your own pockets to help fix a situation your own company created. Then, as thanks, being eventually fired by that company for not continuing the practice and being blacklisted in your field of work. I'm desperately hoping Ashley sues Wells Fargo in a defamation suit but I fear the likelihood of that is low - even if it's not the first time it has happened to Wells Fargo[2] ...<p>At best, upper management were willfully negligent of the impact that their insane sales goals had on the ethics of the company. At worst, upper management were actively trading any ethical notions they could get hold of for money, ripping apart the lives of employees and customers on the way.<p>[1]: <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/07/497084491/episode-728-the-wells-fargo-hustle" rel="nofollow">http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2016/10/07/497084491/episo...</a><p>[2]: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2011/12/15/wells-fargo-hit-with-punitive-damages-in-finra-u5-defamation-case/#225a6d7d7af1" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2011/12/15/wells-farg...</a>