Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $7.8 million in back pay after being accused of hiring discrimination against more than 34,000 Black applicants who were seeking an array of jobs at the bank, federal labor officials said Monday.
U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has entered into an agreement with Wells Fargo that obliges the bank to pay back wages and interest to settle claims of hiring discrimination.
“The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is satisfied that Wells Fargo has pursued an early resolution conciliation agreement, and addressed the issues found in our review,” Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Craig Leen said in a prepared release.
Wells Fargo agreed to provide 580 affected applicants with job opportunities as tellers, personal bankers, customer sales and service representatives, and administrative support positions, the federal agency stated Monday.
All told, 34,193 Black applicants endured discrimination by Wells Fargo, the federal government stated.
San Francisco-based Wells Fargo did not admit liability in the investigation.
“Wells Fargo volunteered to enter into the conciliation agreement and to enhance future compliance proactively,” the Labor Department unit stated.
The agreement between the bank and the federal agency results in what Wells Fargo calls a “routine” review of Wells Fargo hiring data from six to 10 years ago.
“The review found lower selection rates for African Americans for some teller, customer service and personal and phone banker positions,” said Peter Gilchrist, a spokesperson for the bank. “Hispanics were generally the group with the highest selection rate, reflecting the need for Spanish-language skills for certain customer-facing roles.”
Wells Fargo also noted that there were no findings that the bank intentionally discriminated against Blacks in its hiring efforts.
“Since this time period, we have made significant changes, including centralizing recruiting, establishing a recruiting team focused on diverse talent, increasing partnerships with diverse organizations, and improving record keeping,” Gilchrist said.
Wells Fargo said it continues to advance equal employment opportunities and diversity and inclusion across the company.
“We know that we can be a force for change across this country,” Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf said in a June 19 post on the bank’s web site.
