Wells Fargo has been ordered to pay a women $8 million after a Dallas District Judge ruled that the bank violated its fiduciary duty as trustee that was set up when she was orphaned as a child. The women brought the suit when she was asked to approve the sale of a 1/3 of the trust assets that she claimed were being sold below market value. A substantial portion of the award was exemplary damages, to the tune of $3.5 million, which indicates how the judge viewed the banks conduct. As of now, Wells Fargo has not sought to appeal though they are considering their options.
See Michael A. Lindenberger, Judge: Wells Fargo to pay $8M for fraud tied to trust set up when Dallas woman was orphan, Dallas Morning News, July 10, 2015.
Special thanks to Jim Hartnett (The Hartnett Law Firm) for bringing this article to my attention.
