Wells Fargo and a class of employees accusing the bank of making them pay for work expenses and issuing late commissions asked a California federal judge on Friday to approve an amendment to their proposed settlement adding $1.9 million to the original $8.95 million agreement.
The extra funds are to account for additional expenses discovered by Wells Fargo during an audit impacting 617 members of the settlement class, according to a joint stipulation filed with the court.
The additional funds will also allow the class attorneys to seek one third of the money for fees totaling $633,333, the parties said. “To the extent the court ultimately approves less than the full requested amount of attorney’s fees, costs, or class representative enhancement, the difference will be allocated among all participating class members proportionally to the size of their individual claim value,” the parties said in the filing. Wells Fargo Bank NA in February agreed to shell out $8.95 million to settle the claims of approximately 2,100 past and present home mortgage consultants and private mortgage bankers.
The deal also called for about $3 million in attorney fees and expenses. The class noted in the February settlement motion that shortly after the workers lodged their suit, Wells Fargo made internal changes to address the alleged issues.
The original lead plaintiff, Huy Nguyen, initially filed suit in San Francisco County Superior Court in August 2015. The case was removed to federal court three months later, according to the case
docket. Nguyen claimed that as a consultant, he was encouraged to use the company’s marketing tools, including his own Wells Fargo webpage and the company’s FastMail program. But Wells Fargo
charged him for those products, Nguyen claimed. Nguyen also alleged that his commission was paid two weeks later than the end-of-month date the incentive plan contract promised. The class won certification in September 2017. Wells Fargo then appealed the certification, and the Ninth Circuit ultimately affirmed the lower court’s decision in June 2019, court records show. Nguyen withdrew as lead plaintiff in March, and the parties stipulated to Kevin Lockwood becoming the lead plaintiff. According to an April joint filing, Lockwood served as a home mortgage consultant for Wells Fargo from October 2011 to November 2016. He purchased Wells Fargo’s individualized website and was subject to the same pay plans and schedule as other class members, according to the filing.
“After the original notice went out, plaintiff’s counsel detected anomalies with the data that had been provided prior to mediation and we brought our concerns to Wells Fargo and convinced it to do an
audit,” Edward J. Wynne of the Wynne Law Firm, who is representing the class, told Law360. “Wells Fargo’s internal audit confirmed our suspicion that, for reasons unknown at this point by us, not all of
the relevant data had been produced. Once the full extent of the issue was uncovered, the parties were able to reach a mutually satisfactory resolution that is in the best interest of the class.”
Counsel for Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The class is represented by Aaron Kaufmann of Leonard Carder LLP and Edward Wynne of the Wynne
Law Firm. Wells Fargo is represented by Thomas Kaufman and Paul Berkowitz of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
The case is Lockwood et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank NA, Case number 3:15-cv-05239, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.