JPMorgan is asking a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order against a former consultant who moved to Wells Fargo but allegedly continues to poach clients there, thereby violating contracts with his former employer.
Wells Fargo is also at the center of another lawsuit filed this week, with a former customer service employee alleging the bank ignored ongoing harassment and abuse by one of its so-called “biggest lenders.”
JP Morgan’s request for a preliminary injunction concerns Kevin Rossow, who joined JPMorgan as a relationship banker in March 2012. In late 2021, he became a retail banker at a bank branch in Longview, Texas, according to the lawsuit filed in a Texas federal court.
The firm alleged that Rossow worked with clients referred to him by the branch to build relationships and was not expected to seek new business independently of those referrals. JPMorgan alleged that Rossow signed an agreement prohibiting him from soliciting corporate clients for one year after his departure or termination.
However, on July 12, Rossow left JPMorgan and joined Wells Fargo while continuing to operate out of Longview. According to the lawsuit, Rossow immediately began poaching clients from his former firm.
Customers reportedly told JPMorgan representatives about phone calls from Rossow. In one case, Rossow falsely claimed that there was no longer an advisor at his former branch. Rossow asked to meet with another customer and told her he could “grow her money better” if she moved her accounts to Wells Fargo.
“The customer told JPMorgan that what Rossow said to her was ‘underhanded’ and was visibly upset by her dealings with Rossow,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, several other customers have reported similar interactions. Some said Rossow contacted them just days ago. JPMorgan estimates that about 16 households with assets exceeding $13 million have already switched to Wells Fargo.
However, the firm claimed that Rossow did not have access to the contact information of all of these clients and would not have been able to call these clients after his resignation without “appropriating” the client information.
JPMorgan accused him of accessing confidential client files in the weeks before his resignation. On June 25, they claimed that Rossow accessed about 60 profiles in the firm’s central program in one day, about 20 of them “in rapid succession” within about 30 minutes.
The company argued that Rossow passed JPMorgan customer information (including contact information) to Wells Fargo either by photographing the profiles, memorizing the information or in other ways. A company spokesman said Wells Fargo had nothing to add.
Former Wells employee claims mistreatment
There is a separate lawsuit against Wells Fargo in which a former customer service representative claims she was mistreated for years by a senior advisor while the bank allegedly stood by and did nothing.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, Dinah Mirson claims she started working at Wachovia in the Palm Beach County branch around May 2008 (Wells Fargo later bought the bank). However, around November 2012, Mirson began assisting Jeffrey Bowman, who managed about $820 million in client assets, according to the lawsuit.
“Almost from the first day I worked with Mr. Bowman, it was clear that he was exerting his power and control over Ms. Mirson,” the complaint states. “As a successful banker in a male-dominated industry, and because Ms. Mirson is a woman, from the beginning of working with Mr. Bowman, he treated Ms. Mirson in a manner that was markedly different from the way he treated his male colleagues and subordinates.”
Bowman allegedly “evolved” from demanding but tolerable behavior to “managing through intimidation, harassment, condescension, threats and the promise of money in the future,” the lawsuit says. Mirson also claimed Bowman was “known” for mistreating female colleagues.
According to Mirson, her Crohn’s disease and colitis relapsed in 2019 after years of “no serious incidents.” Her doctors attributed this to stress at work. Around the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, Mirson told the bank that she wanted to work part-time or take disability or early retirement. Despite this, the bank’s superiors reportedly convinced her to continue working from home.
But according to Mirson, the abuse continued.
“It was common knowledge among the bank’s female employees that they should avoid Mr. Bowman because he treated female subordinates in this manner,” the complaint states. “Yet nothing was done to stop or correct his discriminatory mistreatment of women.”
AdvisorHub first reported on the lawsuit and also said Bowman died in 2023. A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the company is “reviewing the complaint” and has no further comment at this time.
Mirson said this abuse occurred in cycles. Bowman allegedly belittled Mirson but then apologized and praised her work, and this pattern repeated itself. Mirson eventually took a medical leave of absence and said she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to her chronic illness.
Bowman’s alleged verbal abuse continued while Mirson was on sick leave, prompting her to formally complain to the bank. She believed the bank had taken no steps toward a substantive investigation and argued that it was not surprising that Wells Fargo ignored Bowman’s alleged behavior, saying that “he was one of the bank’s largest donors.”
But according to Mirson, she learned on August 19 (while she was still on sick leave) that she would be laid off effective August 30. She is now suing for lost wages and compensatory and punitive damages.
