[nfb-talk] Settlement with Wells-Fargo Bank

[David Andrews]

Settlement Agreement between
the United States and Wells Fargo & Company
On May 31, 2011, the Justice Department's Disability Rights Section 
and Office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of 
California entered
into a comprehensive settlement agreement with Wells Fargo & Company. 
Under the Agreement, Wells Fargo will pay up to $16 million to 
compensate individuals
who experienced discrimination in violation of Title III of the 
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when trying to call Wells 
Fargo, access Wells Fargo's
services, or visit one of Wells Fargo's retail stores.
On the website
http://www.ada.gov/wells_fargo/index.htm
  you will find these
links:
How to file a claim for compensation from Wells Fargo Settlement 
Agreement between United States and Wells Fargo Fact Sheet about 
Agreement Press Release

Wells Fargo owns or operates almost 10,000 retail stores and 12,000 
ATMs located throughout the United States. Wells Fargo offers a wide 
variety of financial
services, including personal and commercial banking, mortgages, 
brokerage, insurance, and investments. The Department initiated its 
investigation after
receiving complaints under Title III of the ADA filed by numerous 
individuals who are deaf, are hard of hearing, or have speech 
disabilities. The complainants
alleged that Wells Fargo would not do business with them over the 
phone using a telecommunications relay service.
Instead, the individuals were directed to call a TTY/TDD line that 
asked them to leave a message, which went unanswered. The Department 
determined that
these actions violated the ADA. The Department also received a 
variety of other complaints alleging ADA violations by Wells Fargo, 
including the failure
to provide financial documents to people who are blind or have low 
vision in alternate formats (e.g., Braille or large print), the 
failure to provide appropriate
auxiliary aids and services upon request for in-person meetings 
between Wells Fargo staff and individuals who are deaf, and the 
failure to remove barriers
to access for individuals with mobility disabilities. The settlement 
agreement provides for resolution of all complaints alleging 
violation of the ADA
in connection with Wells Fargo's financial services and retail 
facilities based on events occurring before May 31, 2011.
The settlement agreement requires Wells Fargo to accept calls made 
through a relay service by customers who are deaf, are hard of 
hearing, or have speech
disabilities; remove physical barriers to access identified at its 
retail stores; provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, 
including qualified
sign language or oral interpreters, computer-assisted real-time 
transcription, qualified readers, and documents in alternate formats 
(Braille, large print,
audio format, accessible electronic format) to persons with 
disabilities when necessary to ensure effective communication 
throughout its financial services
and programs; ensure that its ATMs and websites are accessible to 
individuals with disabilities; and remedy all other instances of 
discrimination - including
architectural barriers and operational issues -- under Title III of 
the ADA that are identified during the claims process. In addition, 
the agreement requires
Wells Fargo to make
$1 million in charitable donations to non-profit organizations that 
will assist veterans with disabilities caused by injuries sustained 
while serving in
Iraq or Afghanistan to live independently in the community. Wells 
Fargo will also pay a $55,000 civil penalty to the United States Treasury.