Wells Fargo Fake Job Interviews

2022 - 5 - 19

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

At Wells Fargo, a Quest to Increase Diversity Leads to Fake Job ... (The New York Times)

Black and female candidates are sometimes interviewed after the recipient of a job is identified, current and former employees say.

Mr. Thorpe said he never conducted a fake interview, but was required to document that he had tried to find a “diverse pool” of candidates, even though he knew exactly who would be getting the job. In 2016 and 2017, a human resources representative from the bank told Mr. Banks that he had advanced past an initial interview round for a financial adviser trainee position and would be getting a call from a manager. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because he still works in the industry. But six current and former Wells Fargo employees, including Mr. Bruno, said that fake interviews were conducted for many types of positions. Their salaries, Mr. Sommers said, fell below the $100,000 threshold that required a diverse slate of candidates to be interviewed per Wells Fargo’s 2020 policy. In 2018, Tony Thorpe was a senior manager for Wells Fargo Advisors in Nashville, overseeing 60 advisers. In most such cases, Wells had no intention of hiring those people because either he or his superiors had already picked someone for the job, Mr. Bruno said. As the lawsuit progressed, Wells Fargo began requiring that at least one woman or person of color needed to be interviewed for each open job, Ms. Burton said. Mr. Bruno said he eventually refused to conduct the interviews. In an emailed statement, Raschelle Burton, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, said the bank expected all employees to follow its hiring policies and guidelines, which are communicated across the firm. But Mr. Bruno noticed that often, the so-called diverse candidate would be interviewed for a job that had already been promised to someone else. Five others said they were aware of the practice, or helped to arrange it.

Former Wells Fargo exec says company held fake job interviews for ... (REVOLT TV)

Today, news broke that Wells Fargo held fake job interviews with people of color while managers had no intentions of hiring them.

Sources say that Wells Fargo employees were instructed to recruit “diverse” candidates, but these applicants never actually had a shot. Last month, New York Mayor Eric Adams also called the financial institution out for discrimination. Bruno told The New York Times that he was fired after bringing up the situation to his bosses.

Wells Fargo staged sham job interviews for black, female candidates ... (New York Post)

A report cited several current and former Wells Fargo employees who claimed they were told by their bosses to interview a set of "diverse" candidates even ...

The Post has reached out to Wells Fargo and Bruno seeking comment. Bruno said that he told his superiors that the “fake interviews” were “inappropriate, morally wrong, ethically wrong,” according to the Times. Wells Fargo staged sham job interviews with minority candidates for positions that had already been promised to others, according to a former executive at the bank who claims he was fired after complaining about it to his bosses.

Wells Fargo accused of scheduling FAKE job interviews with black ... (Daily Mail)

Former Wells Fargo wealth management executive Joe Bruno, 58, claims he was fired after he blew the whistle to his bosses about the bank's 'fake interviews' ...

The claims come two years after CEO Charles W. Scharafter (pictured) pledged to increase diversity following the murder of George Floyd in June 2020 The claims come two years after CEO Charles W. Scharafter pledged to increase diversity following the murder of George Floyd in June 2020. - The claims come two years after CEO Charles W. Scharafter pledged to increase diversity following the murder of George Floyd in June 2020

Report: Wells Fargo staged 'fake' job interviews for Black, female ... (FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX)

Management level employees at Wells Fargo allegedly held "fake interviews" with people of color and women in order to falsify diversity efforts, says the ...

Wells Fargo held 'fake interviews' with diverse applicants: NYT (Business Insider)

Three current Wells Fargo employees told The New York Times that the fake job interviews had been conducted as recently as this year.

He said he was dismissed in retaliation for raising his concerns, while Wells Fargo told The Times he was let go because he retaliated against a colleague. His comments, which he reiterated during a Zoom meeting with employees that summer, angered some employees, and Scharf issued an apology. "We will continue our internal review and if we find evidence of inappropriate behavior or shortcomings in our guidelines or their implementation, we will take decisive action."

Did Wells Fargo Really Schedule Fake Interviews to Dodge Diversity? (TheStreet)

A new report claims that the financial services firm held interviews with 'diverse' candidates for positions that had already been filled.

This type of "established diversity record" effort comes from newly-instituted policies that require many large businesses to include several underrepresented candidates in the hiring pool for senior roles. "To the extent that individual employees are engaging in the behavior as described by the New York Times, we do not tolerate it," Wells Fargo spokeswoman Raschelle Burton told the Times. As six former Wells Fargo employees and a former executive told the New York Times, hiring managers were instructed to interview people of color and female candidates for certain roles, despite a person already being selected for the position.

Wells Fargo Allegedly Held Fake Job Interviews For Minority ... (The Shade Room)

Wells Fargo is at the center of another highly-controversial headline involving discrimination practices—and this instance involves the fraudulent interview ...

Pixel Pixel/cookiesyncredir Pixel pixel/cookiesync The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers. The service is provided by third-party advertisement hubs, which facilitate real-time bidding for advertisers.

Former Jacksonville Wells Fargo exec says company held fake job ... (ActionNewsJax.com)

In the report, Joe Bruno, a former executive in the wealth management division of Wells Fargo in Jacksonville, as well as six other current and former employees ...

“Yesterday, The New York Times published a story alleging that a handful of Wells Fargo managers decided to hire a job candidate and then — after making this decision — interviewed diverse candidates knowing that the seat had already been filled. We will continue our internal review and if we find evidence of inappropriate behavior or shortcomings in our guidelines or their implementation, we will take decisive action.” - These numbers tell the story of our progress in a fact-based, quantitative way. This is not the first time the banking giant has been in hot water. Five others said they were aware of the practice, or helped to arrange it. While the bank would encourage interviews with “diverse” candidates, Bruno told Emily Flitter he noticed on one too many occasions the minority candidate would be interviewed for a job that had already been promised to someone else.

Fake Job Interviews: The Dark Side of Wells Fargo's 'Diversity' Efforts (Entrepreneur)

Former and current employees speak up on witnessing "fake" diversity efforts by the bank, giving interviews to diverse candidates for jobs that had already ...

The practice seemed to be a vehicle to record diversity efforts on paper, rather than carrying them out in reality. According to Burton, 77% of those hired at Wells Fargo in 2020 were not white men, and 81% of those hired in 2021 were not white men, but she failed to disclose how many of the roles pay more than $100,000 per year — reiterating previous claims by current and former employees that minority candidates were hired for low-paying roles and interviewed for positions that had already been filled. Wells Fargo claims that Bruno’s dismissal was due to him retaliating against a colleague, but the former executive begs to differ, certain that his discharge was a direct result of flagging the diversity initiative of granting fake interviews.

Wells Fargo Accused of Conducting Bogus Diversity Interviews (Barron's)

The embattled bank faces a new set of workforce-discrimination allegations, the latest scandal to tarnish its reputation.

Wells Fargo paid a hefty set of fines over a fake-account scandal that shook the company and precipitated a major shakeup in its leadership ranks. Wells Fargo had already been struggling with workforce-discrimination allegations, and two years ago pledged to consider a diverse slate of candidates for all positions paying above $100,000 a year. The Times story quoted a former wealth management executive, Joe Bruno, who was fired after he complained to his superiors about the practice of interviewing a diverse candidate for a position that had already been filled. A report in the New York Times details a pattern of sham interviews with candidates who never had a chance at landing a job with Wells Fargo. Current and former employees described it as an effort to boost the company’s claims that it was seeking to diversify its workforce. Just Friday morning, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a settlement with Wells Fargo that will see the firm’s brokerage unit pay $7 million to resolve allegations that it had violated antimoney-laundering (AML) rules over a four-year period. Wells Fargo issued a lengthy statement responding to the Times article, which it did not dispute.

Wells Fargo Accused Of Staging Fake Job Interviews For Black ... (Black Enterprise)

Seven current and former Wells Fargo employees said they were instructed to conduct sham interviews with "diverse" candidates.

Banks was eventually hired by Wells Fargo in 2018 in a more junior position and laid off in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Joe Bruno, who joined the bank in 2000 and worked his way up to a market leader overseeing 14 branches of its wealth management operation in Florida, said he was often told to conduct interviews with Black candidates for financial consultant positions, which were lower-paying jobs. The New York Times reports that five other Wells Fargo employees were aware of the practice or helped to arrange it.

Wells Fargo held bogus interviews with minority candidates for jobs ... (MarketWatch)

Six current and former Wells Fargo employees said they were encouraged to interview women or a person of color for jobs that were already filled.

A bank employee told the newspaper that Banks had been subjected to fake interviews before he was eventually hired. Three people working at Wells Fargo now said they had heard of fake interviews happening as recently as this year. The NFL has since introduced new hiring rules.

Wells Fargo Fake Job Interviews

Explore the last week