(Bloomberg) — A Florida pension fund is demanding Wells Fargo & Co. flip over information a couple of potential legal probe into whether or not the financial institution violated federal legislation by organising pretend job interviews to fulfill in-house range pointers. 

The request in a Delaware lawsuit is tied to reviews within the New York Occasions final yr that federal prosecutors are investigating the financial institution over claims managers in its wealth-management division organized job interviews for black and feminine candidates for already-filled positions. 

Legal professionals for the Pompano Seaside Common Staff Retirement System, which holds Wells Fargo inventory, mentioned Monday it needs the information “to research potential breaches of fiduciary responsibility” tied to the pretend interviews, in accordance with Delaware Chancery Court docket filings. 

Wells Fargo officers declined to touch upon the fund’s doc calls for, however mentioned the corporate stays dedicated to its range targets. 

“Our numerous slate pointers for hiring, that are a finest observe throughout many industries, are supposed to, and have contributed to, measurable will increase in numerous illustration throughout the corporate,” Laurie Kight, an organization spokeswoman, mentioned in an emailed assertion.

The financial institution has been coping with a collection of scandals and regulatory points for years, and is working beneath a progress cap imposed by the US Federal Reserve. 

In 2020, the San Francisco-based financial institution paid $3 billion to resolve legal and civil claims over allegations staff opened tens of millions of financial savings and checking accounts within the names of precise clients, with out their data, to get bonuses. The financial institution’s former CEO — John Stumpf – was fined $17.5 million for his function within the scandal. 

The pension fund’s criticism over the job interviews is a so-called books and information motion, demanding paperwork that can be utilized as fodder for fits towards Wells Fargo executives or administrators for breaching their duties to buyers. 

In 2020, Wells Fargo officers launched an effort to beef up range in hiring practices after paying about $8 million to resolve US Labor Division claims it discriminated towards greater than 30,000 black job candidates for positions in banking, gross sales and different roles.

However Wells Fargo staff tipped off federal prosecutors final yr that managers within the financial institution’s wealth-advisory items have been conducting sham interviews to fulfill inside range mandates, in accordance with the New York Occasions.

The case is Pompano Seaside Common Staff Retirement System v. Wells Fargo & Co., 2023-0656, Delaware Chancery Court docket (Wilmington).