: Judge dismisses lawsuit against Wells Fargo for allegedly holding fake job interviews for diversity candidates

U.S. district judge Trina L. Thompson has dismissed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co. WFC that alleged the bank held fake job interviews for positions that were already filled in order to boost its diverse hiring score card. “As the Court noted during oral argument, it is unlikely that records of sham interviews were explicitly created,” Thompson said in her dismissal, according to a court filing made on Friday. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California after reports surfaced in May of 2022 about allegedly phony job interviews. The plaintiffs in the case included SEB Investment Management AB and the West Palm Beach Firefighters’ Pension Fund. Defendants included Wells Fargo chief executive Charles W. Scharf, and Kleber Santos, chief executive of the bank’s consumer lending unit. A Wells Fargo spokesperson did not comment. Wells Fargo stock was up 0.2% on Wednesday.

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