Wells Fargo apparently isn't living up to its promise of owning up to its fake accounts scandal, with a new report showing the bank is pushing customer lawsuits to arbitration.
According to The New York Times, Wells Fargo lawyers are handing the lawsuits to private arbitrators. That means the proceedings will be conducted in secret.
The bank has come under intense fire for creating as many as two million fake accounts using its customers' information in order to hit sales goals. The scandal led to the resignation of CEO John Stumpf in October. More than 5,000 employees were also fired.
Timothy Sloan, the bank's new CEO, doesn't seem to be making good on his vow to "restore trust in Wells Fargo."
"It is ridiculous," Jennifer Zeleny, one of roughly 80 customers suing the bank, told the Times. "This is an issue of identity theft — my identity was used so employees could meet sales goals. This is something that needs to be litigated in a public forum."
Arbitration is conducted behind closed doors and is typically presided over by lawyers or retired judges. The bank said by using the process, all parties involved will be on the hook for less money.
"By resolving legal disputes through arbitration, both the consumer and the business have the ability to reach a positive resolution at a lower cost," the bank said in a statement, the Times reports.
A November report claimed Wells Fargo was attempting to use arbitrators to settle lawsuits stemming from the unauthorized accounts.
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