The U.S. Department of Justice alleged Accenture’s federal contractor subsidiary took race or sex into account during hiring decisions.
Accenture has become the latest company in the channel to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged failures to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements for government contractors, agreeing to pay $25 million as part of the settlement.
The Dublin, Ireland-based consulting giant—No. 1 on CRN’s 2026 Solution Provider 500— reached the settlement days before its next quarterly earnings report. Accenture plans to report its performance for the fourth quarter of its 2026 fiscal year on Oct. 1.
The Department of Justice alleged Accenture’s federal contractor subsidiary, Accenture Federal Services (AFS), considered race or sex in hiring decisions.
In the settlement documents, Accenture denied that it engaged in the alleged conduct and that signing the settlement isn’t an admission of liability. Attorneys who signed the settlement for the U.S. said that the federal government stands by its claims.
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“Accenture complies with applicable laws, and our resolution does not constitute an admission of liability. We have cooperated with the government’s review, and we are pleased to put this matter behind us to avoid the cost and resource demands of prolonged litigation,” said an Accenture spokesperson in a statement to CRN.
CRN has also reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said in a statement Monday that the Department of Justice “will continue to aggressively pursue unconstitutional discriminatory employment practices.”
“Opportunity and promotion in the workplace must be earned through merit,” Woodward said.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division added that “a company cannot take taxpayer dollars, certify that it is following that simple principle, and then use race or sex as a factor in deciding who gets an opportunity.”
Accenture isn’t the only federal contractor in the channel to reach a settlement with the Department of Justice on this issue.
In August, consulting giant Deloitte settled with the Department of Justice for $21.5 million over its diversity practices. IBM settled in April for about $17 million, about $8 million of that restitution. IBM and Deloitte also denied the accusations against them and did not admit liability in their settlements. The Department of Justice also stood by its claims in those settlements as it did in the Accenture one.
CRN has reached out to IBM and Deloitte for comment.
Accenture Agrees To $25 Million DOJ Settlement
As part of the settlement, Accenture agreed to pay $25 million. About $11.6 million of that is restitution. Accenture agreed to a 4 percent per annum interest rate on the settlement amount.
The Department of Justice alleged Accenture and AFS violated the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that they did not discriminate against employees or applicants based on race or sex and that workers were treated “without regard to” race or sex.
The Department of Justice alleged AFS sent monthly reports to business unit leaders showing racial and gender representation within their units as an example of violating federal contractor rules. AFS would highlight figures in different colors based on whether they exceeded representation or fell below the goal, according to the Department of Justice.
AFS leaders also allegedly discussed whether managing director candidates advanced demographic goals, giving additional visibility to candidates who helped meet those targets, according to the Department of Justice. In 2018, AFS managers allegedly had to use rankings to confirm women and ethnic minorities were in the pipeline for promotions, according to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice also alleged AFS’ “Amplify to Elevate” training program violated federal contractor rules by reserving participation for employees based on race.
The Department of Justice also alleged AFS recruited and hired additional entry-level employees in 2020 and 2021 after an initial hiring round didn’t result in enough numbers of certain racial demographics.
