A new lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo did not do enough to reimburse customers affected by its 2016 fake-accounts scandal,
The class-action was filed by Amanda Gonzales, a schoolteacher from New Mexico. The complaint asserts Wells “relies on the inconspicuous and suspicious nature of the letter to depress claims rates, shifting the burden on the customer to take action to dispute an ‘enrollment’ that Wells Fargo knows to have been.”
Wells Fargo intends to “avoid, reduce and delay its ultimate liability and sweep under the rug its long-standing, intentional misconduct” by switching the burden on the customers, the complaint noted.
It asks for $5 million for recipients of the letter and alleges Wells violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as consumer protection laws in California and New Mexico.
Gonzales said in the complaint that her local branch representatives and other customer care staff couldn’t give her a clear answer when she asked about being enrolled in an insurance product covering accidental deaths, according to Reuters.
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer, whose firm represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases under the False Claims Act (FCA) and also under the Securities and Exchange, FINCEN and CFTC whistleblower programs. He can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
