The WellsFargo & Company 401(k) Plan Lawsuit

Bailey Glasser is currently accepting cases involving current and former employees of Wells Fargo & Company.  Wells Fargo & Company mismanaged employee retirement funds and overcharged employees when allocating company stock, costing participants millions of dollars.  

If you or a loved one were a participant in the The Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan in 2018 or earlier, you may be eligible for financial compensation.  Contact Bailey Glasser as soon as possible for a free and confidential consultation.

Who May Be Eligible for a Claim?

If you are a current or former employee of Wells Fargo & Company and participated in the company’s defined contribution plan, you may be eligible for a claim. Specifically, claimants must have:

• Participated in the The Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan
• Been a participant 2018 or earlier, but you must have had a plan in 2018
• Both current and former employees are eligible

If you or a loved one meet these criteria, it is in your best interests to speak with an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights.  Wells Fargo & Company has agreed to a $131.8 million settlement to compensate affected employees, however, this may be inadequate for the needs of participants. Even if you were a part of this settlement, you may still be eligible to file a lawsuit.  At Bailey Glasser, we can help ensure that you receive what you are owed. 

Why Choose Bailey Glasser?

• At Bailey Glasser, we have extensive trial and class action experience in complex pension, 401(k) plan, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)  lawsuits in federal court.  We understand complex financial transactions, investments, and instruments.  
• Our attorneys have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of employees who lost retirement savings in 401(k) plans and ESOPs. 
• There are no upfront costs.  We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we take all the financial risk and only charge a fee if we successfully resolve your claim.

An Overview of the Investigation and Settlement

The Wells Fargo & Company 401(k) Plan is a defined contribution retirement plan for employees of Wells Fargo & Company.  What that means is that the plan establishes an account for each participant where a defined amount is contributed by the participant, the employer, or both.  

A significant portion of the assets in the fund is Wells Fargo company stock.  Wells Fargo holds convertible preferred stock in the plan. When it makes allocations of that stock to employees or participants, it converts the preferred stock to common stock. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires, and participants’ retirement security demands, that the conversion price must be at no less than fair market value. Because the convertible preferred stock is not publicly traded, fair market value must be determined based on the standard of what hypothetical, arm’s length buyers and sellers would pay or sell for.

The issue is that Wells Fargo did not comply with this standard. According to a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, those responsible for Wells Fargo’s 401(k) plan paid more than fair market value for employer stock and, by doing so, betrayed the trust of the plan’s current and future retirees.  In this case, the employees may have been overcharged as much as $90 per share from 2013 through 2018.   As a result, plan participants lost millions of dollars from their retirement plans.

Wells Fargo agreed to pay $145 million to end the investigation into the mishandling of its employees’ 401(k) retirement accounts.   The settlement recovers more than $131.8 million for the retirement plan’s participants as well as a penalty of nearly $13.2 million.

Employees may be eligible for additional compensation beyond the DOL settlement depending upon the year they participated and the number of company shares they held in their account.

What Should I Do If I Was Affected?

If you or a loved one participated in a Wells Fargo defined contribution retirement plan, you may have lost a significant portion of your retirement savings.  However, as an investor, you have rights and may be eligible to file a claim.  Please call us or fill out our contact form as soon as possible.  Our attorneys will examine the facts and thoroughly explain your legal options.  If you do have a valid claim, Bailey Glasser can handle every aspect of your claim, from inception to a successful resolution.