Wells Fargo Board Pays Price for Letting Whistleblowers Whistle in the Wind

Jordan A. Thomas remarks on company culture and employee performance 

Embattled financial giant, Wells Fargo & Co. is slated to face a group of displeased shareholders responding to a sales practices scandal—something that could have been avoided had the company taken heed from whistleblowers who had complained over the course of several years. Attorneys and consultants who work with whistleblowers and their employers say management teams must show they take internal complaints seriously, even if their first instinct is to dismiss them as unimportant or flawed.

“In a case where you have a fundamental breakdown in your culture you have you have to have sustained and substantial effort,” said Jordan Thomas, chair of the whistleblower representation practice at [prior firm]. “I would get a baseline survey. I would bring in external people to train the entire workforce. I would then change the way people’s performances are evaluated.”