Bill Gates Office Accused of Asking Women Candidates About Porn Habits During Job Screening
Women job candidates were allegedly asked sexually explicit and personal questions while interviewing for a position at Bill Gates’s private investment office, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The women went through an extensive screening process and were reportedly asked intrusive questions including if they ever “danced for dollars” or had an affair, what kind of porn they watched, among other questions, the WSJ said.
The questions were reportedly meant to determine if the candidates would be susceptible to blackmail if they were hired to work for the billionaire. The outlet said it couldn’t confirm if men were asked the same questions, but none it spoke to said they had been faced with the same extensive background check.
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A Gates spokesperson deflected questions about the screening process, saying Gates’s private office, Gates Ventures, had hired Concentric Advisors, a third-party contractor, to conduct any and all background checks, the WSJ reports. Gates Ventures did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, but a Gates spokesperson told the WSJ, “This line of questioning would be unacceptable and a violation of Gates Ventures’ agreement with the contractor,” adding that they are required to comply with its pre-employment screening laws.
While the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission do not expressly state that these specific questions should not be asked, it does broadly cover the scope of asking questions that discriminate against a person’s gender. Yet women reportedly told the WSJ that they had been targeted with the uncomfortable background questions, meaning the company could be in opposition to state and federal employment discrimination laws.
A spokesperson for Concentric Advisors did not respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment in time for publication, but the company’s CEO, Mike LeFever, told the WSJ that its screening questions and background checks are the same regardless of gender and said it’s compliant with state and federal laws.
Employers should be resigned to asking questions only on the basis of a candidate’s employment history, education, or other public records such as their financial or credit history and public social media activities, according to the FTC. Questions they are not permitted to ask are medical or genetic information, including the candidate’s family medical history, and can only ask those questions in “limited circumstances” after they’ve been offered the position or after employment begins.
Concentric likewise denied the allegations, with a spokesperson telling the WSJ that while candidates can volunteer that information, it did not ask the questions as part of its screening process. The spokesperson told the outlet that the screening involves, “assessing a candidate’s truthfulness and vulnerability to blackmail, which often starts with voluntary statements by the candidate with follow-up questions by company interviewers.”
In what appears to be a back-and-forth finger-pointing contest, a Gates Ventures spokesperson denied any claims that candidates were asked deeply personal and intrusive questions, telling Business Insider: “Our hiring process is conducted with the utmost respect for each and every candidate, with a zero-tolerance policy for any participants, including service providers, who break this principle.” The spokesperson added, “Further, any implication of any connection between Bill Gates’ personal history and an independent background check process, identical for men and women, is outrageous.”
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