INVESTIGATES: "This is wrong on a lot of different levels"
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Wells Fargo’s push for diversity led to “fake interviews,” according to a former company executive in Jacksonville.
Joe Bruno, the Jacksonville market leader, oversaw all 14 branches in the area and led recruitment and diversity efforts. But he said one company policy didn’t settle well.
Bruno claims he was told by Wells Fargo leadership to interview for jobs that were already promised to someone else. At least one of the candidates had to be a female or a person of color.
“You feel very uncomfortable being on the other side of that table doing an interview, and you know that candidate has a zero chance of getting the job — zero,” he told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant. “These are real human beings on the other side of the table. They have families. I have a family. It’s just wrong.”
His concerns were first exposed in a New York Times article. According to the report, six other former and current employees were told by their direct bosses to do similar interviews.
Bruno said he was in charge of diversity efforts starting in 2019 and often spoke up about the practice.
“I was told after that conversation, ‘Joe you’re breaking a lot of glass. You need to slow down. In fact, it’s beyond slowing down, you just need to stop,’” he said.
In August 2021, Bruno was fired.
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