The Wells Fargo scandal, in which employees of the giant bank opened up accounts for customers without their permission or even knowledge to meet aggressive quotas, has taken another turn according to CNBC. The employees who engaged in this illegal and unethical practice were fired when they were found out.

However, another group of employees, who did not join in opening up accounts for people whether they wanted them or not, often did not meet the quotas and, as a consequence were demoted, penalized, compelled to resign or outright fired. Two former employees of the bank have filed a class action lawsuit asking for $2.6 billion from Wells Fargo to be paid to those employees who did not engage in unethical behavior and were penalized as a result.

The $12 an hour employees were required to open ten new accounts a day, allegedly, and were required to submit progress reports several times daily. The class action suit maintains that these quotas were unreasonable, led to the unethical behavior by some of the employees, and constituted a scheme to inflate the bank’s stock price and to benefit its CEO. The lawsuit claims that Wells Fargo management was aware that illegal bank accounts were being opened and did nothing until media reports forced their hand.

The lawsuit constitutes a public relations nightmare for Wells Fargo that is likely to hurt its bottom line beyond any court settlement that itmay be compelled to pay. The scandal should serve as an object lesson for corporations which think they can get away with cutting corners and engaging in dubious business practices. Our court system is designed to exact a harsh lesson for such companies.

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