Wells Fargo's Victory: Shareholder Lawsuit on Fake Job Interviews Dismissed
Wells Fargo has successfully defeated a shareholder lawsuit accusing the bank of defrauding shareholders by promoting its commitment to diversity hiring while conducting sham interviews of non-white and female job candidates. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that the fake interviews were widespread or even occurred, and there was no evidence that the CEO and senior diversity executives were aware of them. The lawsuit claimed that Wells Fargo inflated its stock price through public statements discussing its diversity guidelines. The bank's share price fell in 2022 after news of a criminal probe into the sham interviews, but no charges or resolution have been announced yet.