Prudential Hit With Class Action Lawsuit in Wells Fargo Fallout

Prudential Financial Inc. is facing a class action lawsuit in the latest legal action linking the insurer to Wells Fargo & Co.’s high-profile consumer fraud scandal.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by a trio of law firms in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, says Prudential worked with Wells Fargo to sign up low-income customers for life insurance policies without their knowledge.

The complaint alleges that the San Francisco-based lender worked in tandem with Prudential to register customers unknowingly for the MyTerm life insurance program, withdraw fees from customers’ Wells Fargo accounts and stonewall inquiries to Prudential’s customer service line about unwanted accounts.

The action follows a wrongful termination suit filed last Tuesday by three former Prudential employees who say the company fired them after they brought attention to the alleged fraud. Prudential is set to suspend its insurance policy sales partnership with the bank, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Representatives from Prudential and Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.