<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1654867256078,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-1b9b-da05-a97b-3bfb53a10000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1654867256078,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017b-1b9b-da05-a97b-3bfb53a10000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_54867249", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1029527"} }); ","_id":"00000181-4dc6-d702-a3cf-4fc75a3a0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedA criminal investigation into Wells Fargo is looking into whether the company broke the law with its hiring practices.
The investigation, opened by federal prosecutors in New York, will vet claims from several Wells Fargo employees that the banking company held fake interviews with women and people of color to record diversity efforts in its hiring practices for positions that had already been filled. A recently created civil rights unit within the Manhattan office will lead the investigation, a source briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
“No one should be put through an interview without a real chance of receiving an offer, period,” read a statement Wells Fargo shared with the Washington Examiner. “The diverse slate guidelines we put in place are meant to increase diverse representation across the company, and we can see meaningful results in our hiring data since 2020.”
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The investigation is in its early stages, and no charging decisions have been made.
Joe Bruno, a former Wells Fargo executive, said in a May interview that he was fired by the banking company after telling higher-ups the “fake interviews” were “inappropriate, morally wrong, ethically wrong.” He is one of seven former and current employees who believe the interviews were aimed at recording nominal steps toward diversity.
Wells Fargo said it vetted the allegations and “could not corroborate the claims as factual.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Approximately 45% of Wells Fargo’s employees in the United States are nonwhite as of December 2021, and three out of 14 members of the company’s board of directors are black as of April. Over 47% of the company’s hires in 2021 for positions with annual compensation of $100,000 or more were women, according to statistics Wells Fargo shared with the Washington Examiner.
Representatives for Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
