The Department of Labor Wednesday ordered Bank of America to rehire and pay $930,000 to a former mortgage employee improperly fired in a whistleblower case tied to Countrywide Financial Corp., the troubled lender bought by the bank in 2008.
The worker – who was not identified by the government -- reported "pervasive wire, mail and bank fraud" involving employees at Countrywide. B of A was ordered to pay back wages, damages and attorneys' fees.
"It's clear from our investigation that Bank of America used illegal retaliatory tactics against this employee," said David Michaels, assistant secretary of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "This employee showed great courage reporting potential fraud and standing up for the rights of other employees to do the same."
The Calabasas-area employee was fired shortly after the Countrywide acquisition became final, DOL said.
B of A issued a statement saying it is "disappointed with the ruling and plans to exercise our option to challenge the order."
The bank said the employee was let go, “solely based on issues with the employee's management style and in no way related to the employee's complaints and the allegations made in the complaint.”
