Ethical Dilemmas In Wells Fargo

In society today, one must rely on a bank to function. The need for a debit or credit card to buy groceries, gas, and basic living expenses has resulted in people relying on their banks to survive. As a top national bank, Wells Fargo would seem like a reasonable choice but after recent discoveries it should have people question the safety of their accounts and the lack of ethics within this company.
Wells Fargo is a national bank found in almost every state, offering over 6,000 retail banks and 13,000 ATMs (Wells Fargo). With its easy accessibility and well-known name, Wells Fargo ranks among the most popular banking institutions use in the United States. Wells Fargo offers a wide variety of products and can assist its customers with several …show more content…
The principal of government requirements is that one should never take action that violates the law (Williams). Obliterating this ethical principle by creating these accounts, Wells Fargo has committed fraud in almost every aspect while trying to boost their numbers at the expense of everyone besides the executives within. Additionally, they have discredited their employees by having them take these actions. “‘You fired 5,300 people,’ he (Brad Sherman, a Democrat of California) said at the hearing. ‘You took 5,300 good Americans and turned them into felons’” (Cowley). Furthermore, Wells Fargo has paid $185 million in fines and penalties split between the City of Los Angeles and federal regulators regarding these illegal and unethical accounts. Moreover, the principle of individual rights has also been grossly ignored, which pertains to never taking actions that infringe upon other’s rights. Wells Fargo’s negligence regarding the implementation of theses accounts and creation of these accounts resulted in unwarranted fees and illegal use of customer information. “The way it worked was that employees moved funds from customers ' existing accounts into newly-created ones without their knowledge or consent, regulators say” (Egan). By violating individual’s rights, Wells …show more content…
There are four primary social responsiveness strategies: reactive, defensive, accommodative, and proactive. A reactive strategy is when the company’s response is less than what society expects. Wells Fargo exhibited this behavior initially when the CEO claimed he had no knowledge of these events and blamed the 5,300 employees he terminated. Eventually they had to turn to the defensive strategy, which admits responsibility, but performs the least necessary to satisfy society. Wells Fargo is currently in the midst of performing this strategy. They have paid their settlement dues, thus far, they have submitted a new commitment statement and are going through an internal review and a regulatory review. Part of their commitment statement has changed to reflect these ethical breaches. “We recognize that we have fallen short of that goal and we truly regret and take full responsibility for any instances where Wells Fargo customers received products that they did not request” (Wells Fargo). Additionally, the CEO has claimed they will be dropping incentive programs to ensure these fraudulent activities do not take place again. Wells Fargo has failed to use either the accommodation or proactive strategies which entail doing all they can to make up for their downfall