Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Monday that he plans to push legislation that would allow Wells Fargo & Co. customers to sue the bank over unauthorized accounts opened by employees trying to meet aggressive sales quotas.
The escalating scandal also drew the attention of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who in a speech criticized the San Francisco bank and other companies that use the fine print in customer contracts to force disputes into private arbitration instead of allowing consumers to go to court.
She said Monday that if elected, she would “rein in the abuse.”
Brown’s bill, which he plans to introduce when Congress returns after the November elections, would invalidate mandatory arbitration clauses in the contracts of customers who were among those who had unauthorized accounts opened in their names. About 2 million such accounts were opened.
