The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has reached a settlement with Accenture, with the global professional services firm agreeing to pay $25 million to the U.S. to settle allegations that it discriminated against employees and job applicants in hiring, promotion, and professional development opportunities through its DEI programs and goals.
The announcement follows a similar recent $21.5 million settlement with Deloitte, with both cases forming part of DOJ’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, launched by the department last year to crack down on the use of DEI policies by federal contractors and other recipients of federal funds through the False Claims Act, which requires federal contractors to certify compliance with civil rights laws.
In a statement provided to ESG Today, an Accenture spokesperson said that the firm “complies with applicable laws,” and that the settlement “does not constitute an admission of liability.”
The spokesperson added:
“We have cooperated with the government’s review, and we are pleased to put this matter behind us to avoid the costs and resource demands of prolonged litigation.”
In its settlement announcement with Accenture, the DOJ outlined a series of alleged violations by the company, including claiming that the company took race or sex into consideration in hiring and promotion decisions, and that it offered professional development and educational opportunities with eligibility limited by race or sex.
Among the key allegations, the DOJ claimed that business unit leaders at Accenture received monthly summaries of the specific percentage of each race and sex within the unit, highlighted in green, yellow or red to indicate progress towards workforce composition goals.
The DOJ also claimed that Accenture conducted separate discussions of candidates that would further the firm’s race or sex demographic goals in its consideration of managing director promotions, in order to ensure that the candidates received extra visibility, adding that these candidates were sometimes ranked separately from those that would not further the targets.
The settlement agreement noted that Accenture “denies that it engaged” in the alleged conduct.
The pace of anti-DEI activity by U.S. politicians has accelerated since the election of President Trump, starting with an Executive Order signed by Trump after taking office eliminating DEI preferencing in federal contracting, and requiring contractors to affirm that they “will not engage in illegal discrimination, including illegal DEI.” In addition to the Accenture and Deloitte settlements, over the past few months, the DOJ announced a $30 million DEI-related settlement with PayPal, while federal agency The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has launched an investigation into Nike, based on allegations that the company discriminated against white workers through its DEI programs, and initiated a lawsuit against the New York Times alleging that the company violated laws prohibiting race- and sex-based discrimination by passing over a white male employee for a promotion due to its DEI policies.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said:
“Opportunity and promotion in the workplace must be earned through merit. Today’s resolution makes unmistakably clear that the Department will continue to aggressively pursue unconstitutional discriminatory employment practices.”
