The Wells Fargo employee who emailed the CEO asking for a $10K raise for his colleagues has quit
"After 7 years last Friday was my last day with with Wells Fargo," Tyrel Oates wrote on Facebook attaching a copy of the letter he sent to John Stumpf, the CEO of Wells Fargo (See below).
His decision to leave appears to be a personal one.
He continued: "Unfortunately, school has gotten to the point where a more flexible schedule is needed. I had planned to send a follow up to the email from back in October, but out of respect for the changes in the communication policies and no possible workaround, I was unable to send it to the company. I have; however, sent it to the Board of Directors as well as Mr. Stumpf."
Oates, 31, worked for seven years at a Wells Fargo location in Portland, Oregon.
Back in October, Oates sent a letter highlighting income inequality and asking the CEO for a $10,000 raise for himself and his colleagues (a raise of about $4.71 per hour) to "show the rest of the United States, if not the world that, yes big corporations can have a heart other than philanthropic endeavors." He also CC'd thousands of other Wells Fargo employees on the email.
Reuters/ John Adkisson Oates' email went viral. However, Oates wrote in the new letter that the response from the company's upper management was not adequate.
"The only responses that have been provided thus far is the bank simply defending its compensation philosophy (with no attempt at compromise), as well as limiting who we can and cannot email within the organization. These are not acceptable responses," Oates wrote in a new letter.
A Wells Fargo spokesperson said senior leaders at the company spoke with Oates. The spokesperson was unable to elaborate about who exactly reached out.
As for its compensation, Wells Fargo said in a statement it provides "market competitive compensation" and an "array of benefits" to its employees. Here's the full statement:
"Wells Fargo values and supports its team members. Our people are our greatest strength: the expertise, commitment, and integrity of our team members are what make Wells Fargo the great company that it is today. We pride ourselves on creating a great place to work for our team members, including market competitive compensation that combines base pay with a broad array of benefits and career-development opportunities. Investing heavily in team members has been key to our success and customer-centric culture. Engaged and motivated team members lead to satisfied customers.
"That is why we devote 60% of our noninterest expense to compensation and benefits. Our goal is to grow and develop team members and we offer a great deal of upward career opportunities. Team members have opportunities for salary increases as part of the annual review process, ongoing adjustments based on market surveys, and promotional opportunities. Last year, in addition to increases that resulted from annual salary reviews, 45,000 promotional salary increases for team members were completed."
There was a communication policy change, but the Wells Fargo spokesperson said it's unrelated to Oates' first letter.
"We're always reviewing our practices to ensure that we maintain a robust and secure email environment. It's an ongoing effort to manage our risk."
Here's the new letter from Oates:
