FINRA Arbitrator Finds Wells Fargo Defamed Former Employee

Posted on December 4th, 2020 at 2:45 PM
FINRA Arbitrator Finds Wells Fargo Defamed Former Employee

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

November 2020, a FINRA arbitrator found that Wells Fargo defamed a former employee on her Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Registration (“Form U-5”). The former employee served as a Wells Fargo Advisors bank branch broker from 2007 to March of 2020.  On the Form U-5 originally filed by Wells Fargo with FINRA, Wells Fargo stated that the employee was “discharged” for enrolling two clients in insurance policies with the authorization of those clients.

However, after a hearing via Zoom, the Arbitrator found that the reason for termination published by Wells Fargo on the former employee’s Form U-5 was defamatory and ordered that the reason for termination be changed from “discharged” to “other” and that the termination explanation be changed to “not for cause termination”. Given the Arbitrator’s ruling, it is reasonable to infer that Wells Fargo failed to prove that the original termination explanation was true.

Importantly, the Arbitrator also awarded the former employee $30,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Tags: eccleston, finra, wells fargo, arbitrator

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