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SALT LAKE CITY — Nine Utahns are part of a class-action lawsuit against Wells Fargo, claiming they were among hundreds of thousands of people for whom the bank opened fake accounts.
Wells Fargo engaged in "unfair" and "abusive" practices that resulted in numerous instances of unfair competition, disclosure of private facts, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of likeness, breach of contract and other violations, according to the suit filed in federal court in Salt Lake City.
The bank ran credit reports without plaintiffs' permission, which has hurt their credit history, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs also signed on signature cards for organizations they belong to, only to find that Wells Fargo submitted an application for a credit card and were notified through the mail that their applications were not approved.
Earlier this month, Wells Fargo was fined $185 million for inflating sales metrics by creating as many as 2 million fake bank and credit card accounts. It also faces a Department of Justice investigation and a hearing in the U.S. House. The Senate Banking Committee grilled the company last week.
Related:
'Wells Fargo isn't the only one': Other bank workers describe intense sales tactics
Most Americans were shocked when they learned that thousands of Wells Fargo employees had opened millions of fake accounts.The lawsuit, filed by Christensen Young & Associates in Sandy, alleges Wells Fargo created sales quotas and pressured employees to do whatever it takes to meet them.
"Consequently, Wells Fargo's managers and bankers have for years engaged in unethical and illegal practices called 'gaming,'" according to the lawsuit. "Gaming consists of, among other things, opening and manipulating fee generating customer accounts through often unfair, fraudulent and unlawful means, such as omitting signatures and adding unwanted secondary accounts to primary accounts without permission."
Wells Fargo has fired more than 5,300 employees since 2011 for improper sales tactics.
Several of those former workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Wells Fargo seeking billions of dollars for employees nationwide who were fired or demoted after refusing to open fake accounts.
