By now most of us are aware of the Wells Fargo scandal. The bank allegedly opened millions of bank and credit-card accounts in customer’s names without their permission. The bank then fired approximately 5,000 employees in the name of “cleaning house.”

Not so fast, Well Fargo. It turns out that those 5,000 weren’t the “bad apples” acting alone. Many of them are now claiming that their superiors at Wells Fargo new and encouraged them!

An article in HartfordBusiness.com reports that FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) is looking into these claims. It has set up a dedicated phone line and email address for the next 90 days. If these claims are true, Wells Fargo may have illegally fired these workers. It is illegal to fire an employee for doing something you told them to do! It is also illegal to report falsely to FINRA that they violated a company policy when the policy either didn’t exist or when the real policy unwritten rule was to open the accounts without the customers’ permission.

One class action lawsuit already exists. More could quickly follow. In Connecticut and Massachusetts, the legal claims could include wrongful termination, defamation, retaliation and whistle blowing.