Wells Fargo to Face Securities Suit Over Sham Job Interviews

Wells Fargo & Co. failed to dodge a lawsuit alleging the bank defrauded investors by touting a successful diversity hiring policy while actually conducting “sham” job interviews for minority candidates it had no intention of hiring.

Judge Trina L. Thompson on Monday declined to dismiss the proposed securities class action, which was filed in 2022 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Thompson ruled that the shareholders had provided sufficient reasoning for why 11 public statements made by Wells Fargo about its hiring policy intended to boost diversity were misleading.

That policy adopted by the bank ...