Bill Gates.Photo: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/Getty
Women applying for jobs withBill Gates’s private office were questioned about their sexual history, drug use and other portions of their private lives during the interview process, a new report claims.
Concentric Advisors, a security consulting firm tasked with interviewing job candidates for Gates Ventures, allegedly questioned multiple women about their private lives while conducting background checks, theWall Street Journalreported on Thursday.
TheWSJsaid only women reported being asked these questions while applying for jobs with Gates’ private office.
The spokesperson also says the independent background check process is “identical for men and women.”
Candidates told theWSJthat the firm, named Concentric Advisors, asked questions about if they had any previous extramarital affairs, if they had nude images of themselves on their cellphones, and the kind of porn they prefer. Some recalled that they were asked if they had previously “danced for dollars,” and one reported being asked if she ever had a sexually transmitted disease.
A spokeswoman for Gates Ventures told theWSJthat she has not heard about Concentric Advisors asking such questions during background checks, but said the “line of questioning would be unacceptable and a violation of Gates Ventures’ agreement with the contractor.”
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“We have never received information from any vendor or interviewee in our 15+ year history that inappropriate questions were asked during the screening process,” she said in a statement. “We can confirm, that after a comprehensive review of our records, no employment offer has ever been rescinded based on information of this nature.”
The spokeswoman also said contractors are required to comply with pre-employment screening laws and comply with both state and federal laws and regulations.
A spokesperson for Concentric also denied claims that the company asked such questions during interviews with prospective employees, per the report.
Concentric Advisors did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Candidates who said they were asked these questions told theWSJthat they believed the interviewers were attempting to find information that could be used to blackmail individuals who would be working closely with Gates.
However, candidates who spoke with theWSJsaid they did not volunteer the sensitive information they were asked about, and had to pass the company’s assessment in order to get the job.
Candidates who signed the agreement gave their permission to have the results revealed to Gates’ private office, including “highly sensitive information,” per the report. “Re-disclosure of sexually transmitted diseases,” however, is not permitted.
Last month, theWSJreported that disgraced financierJeffrey Epsteinthreatened to expose Gates in 2017 for having analleged affairwith Russian bridge player Mila Antonova.
In Thursday’s statement, Gates’ spokesperson says “any implication of a connection between Bill Gates' personal history” and the background check process currently in question “is outrageous.”
source: people.com
