Shareholders sued Defendants for allegedly making misrepresentations between 2021-2022 about its efforts to increase diversity in the workplace and for conducting fake interviews to meet its Diverse Search Requirement.

The Diverse Search Requirement called for at least 50% of interview candidates to have at least one diversity dimension (race, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ individuals, veterans, and people with disabilities). Shareholders claimed that the misrepresentations led to a decrease in the company's stock price and value as well as a negative impact on the reputation of the company.

On April 3, 2023, Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim. Defendants asserted that Plaintiffs failed to establish that Defendants intentionally or recklessly made false or misleading statements, or had actual control over the preparation and release of the challenged statements. On August 18, 2023, the court granted Defendants motion to dismiss because Plaintiffs were not able to provide particular allegations that would allow an inference that widespread fake interviews took place. Plaintiffs relied upon the news article's generalized allegations that sham interviews took place, which was insufficient.

On September 8, 2023, Plaintiffs amended their complaint to include statements from nine former employees of Wells Fargo. The statements gave particular instances of sham interviews that took place during the class period. On October 23, 2023, Defendants filed a second motion to dismiss based on the same reasoning as the first. However, the court denied the motion to dismiss and stated that in the amended complaint Plaintiffs provided sufficiently specific allegations of the sham interviews, as well as direct and indirect evidence that Defendants knowingly made false statements about the Diverse Search Requirement.

On April 25, 2025, the court agreed to let Plaintiffs sue as a group (called a class). Defendants have appealed this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.