Dive Brief:
- Deloitte agreed to pay $21.5 million to settle U.S. Department of Justice allegations that its diversity, equity and inclusion practices failed to comply with federal antidiscrimination requirements in violation of the False Claims Act, according to a settlement agreement shared Tuesday by the department.
- “Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a DOJ statement.
- The Big Four professional services firm denies the allegations and does not admit liability, according to the settlement agreement. The company did not respond to a request for comment before press time.
Dive Insight:
The settlement marks another False Claims Act resolution realized under DOJ’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, which was launched in May 2025. The goal of the initiative is to pursue claims against federal funds recipients who violate federal civil rights laws, DOJ said.
DOJ’s efforts are part of a larger push by the Trump administration to advance its anti-DEI agenda, particularly among federal workers and contractors.
“Institutions that take federal money only to allow anti-Semitism and promote divisive DEI policies are putting their access to federal funds at risk,” then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi said when the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative was announced.
In this case, Deloitte engaged in discriminatory race- and sex-based employment practices from January 2017 to August 2026, including in hiring, promotion and staffing decisions “to achieve progress toward non-public race and sex-based workforce composition goals,” DOJ said.
The company also allegedly set goals on the demographic makeup of workers on federal contracts and provided training, mentorship and development opportunities only to certain employees based on race or sex, per DOJ.
The claims were brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a membership-based organization that challenges preferences based on race. The organization will receive $4.3 million of the funds recovered.
Edward Blum, president of the alliance, said in a statement that the settlement agreements “speak for themselves.”
