WASHINGTON — Wells Fargo has reached an agreement with the government to pay up to $16 million to settle complaints from deaf customers or those hard of hearing or with speech defects who used a telecommunications relay service.
The settlement involving the bank’s nearly 10,000 retail banking, brokerage and mortgage stores is designed to ensure equal access under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
According to the Justice Department, some disabled customers of Wells Fargo were referred to a phone line that told them to leave a message, which the government says went unanswered.
In the agreement, the bank denied it violated the disabilities act, saying some of its call centers stopped accepting calls made through relay services because of fraud concerns.
