Wells Fargo (WFC) did not have a great year in 2022, and it looks like 2023 is kicking off with a real banger.
The bank was called out for several of its major moves last year, including closing the accounts of adult performers with no explanation, being called out by a group of senators led by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) for allegedly racist hiring practices, and excessive cases of rampant fraud via its Zelle app.
But perhaps the worst act of the year came on December 20, when Wells Fargo was fined nearly $4 billion by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The cause was banking violations that impacted 16 million consumer accounts, including repeatedly misapplying loan payments, getting fees and interest wrong, and charging surprise overdraft fees.
"Wells Fargo has repeatedly broken the law and ripped off its customers. I'll say it once, and I'll say it again: We need to break up Wells Fargo," Warren wrote in a tweet on Dec. 20.
You'd think with all that weight on its back, Wells Fargo would be considering ways to be on its best behavior. Instead, one of its VPs did something so appalling that it's hard to believe it really happened.
What Happened With Wells Fargo's VP
Wells Fargo India Vice President Shankar Mishra was on an Air India flight from JFK to New Delhi on November 26 when he got out of his seat, walked up to another passenger, and proceeded to urinate on her.
The 72-year-old woman asked for Mishra to be arrested when the flight arrived at its destination. Before that, however, the flight crew brought Mishra to apologize to her, which she describes in an official complaint she lodged with the airline.
"I was stunned when he started crying and profusely apologizing to me, begging me no to lodge a complaint against him because he is a family man and did not want his wife and child to be affected by this incident."
Wells Fargo announced Mishra's termination on January 6.
"Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standard of professional and personal behavior and we find these allegations deeply disturbing. This individual has been terminated from Wells Fargo. We are cooperating with law enforcement and ask that any additional inquiries be directed to them," it said in a statement.
Can Wells Fargo Recover?
While the incident was a one-off committed by a single employee rather than an act made by the bank itself, it casts a further shadow on a company that has already lost a great deal of respect in the public eye.
With its fourth-quarter earnings call just around the corner, Wells Fargo has an opportunity to discuss its future plans and potentially begin to turn its reputation around. But between its history of discriminatory hiring practices and its charges of mishandling money, the company has a steep hill to climb to get there.
The public, however, has been perhaps not forgiving of Wells Fargo, but not willing to leave the bank. That may simply be based on the fact that changing banks is a hassle and when a scandal does not directly impact you, it's easy to be upset, but not actually willing to open a new bank account or find a new mortgage/credit card/home equity loan provider.
