The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has discovered that the Bank of America Corp. has violated the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after it improperly fired an employee.
Bank of America must reinstate and pay the employee roughly $930,000 for back wages, interest, compensatory damages and attorney fees. OSHA's San Francisco regional office conducted the investigation after receiving a complaint from the Los Angeles-based employee.
"It's clear from our investigation that Bank of America used illegal retaliatory tactics against this employee," says OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. "This employee showed great courage reporting potential fraud and standing up for the rights of other employees to do the same."
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The employee previously worked for Countrywide Financial Corp. but became a Bank of America in July 2008 after the merger between the two companies. The employee ran internal investigations that exposed extensive wire, mail and bank fraud involving Countrywide employees. According to the employee, those who tried to report fraud to Countrywide's Employee Relations Department faced retaliation. Soon after the merger, the employee was fired.
"Whistleblowers play a vital role in ensuring the integrity of our financial system as well as the safety of our food, air, water, workplaces and transportation systems," Michaels says. "This case highlights the importance of defending employees against retaliation when they try to protect the public from the consequences of an employer's illegal activities."
The complainant as well as Bank of America can appeal the monetary damages to the Labor Department's Office of Administrative Law Judges within 30 days of receiving the findings.
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