Deloitte has agreed to pay $21.5m (£15.78m) to resolve a US Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation into its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices.
According to a Reuters report, the settlement comes as President Donald Trump’s administration increases scrutiny of DEI policies during his second term.
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The case was handled through the DoJ’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, established last year to pursue challenges to DEI programmes using civil anti-fraud law.
The DoJ said Deloitte business units received monthly reports that tracked “demographic goals”.
It alleged that partners, principals and managing directors were assessed partly on their work towards the company’s workforce-composition targets.
According to the DoJ, goals to improve Black and Hispanic representation influenced promotion decisions.
However, Deloitte denied discriminating.
The settlement agreement, released on 25 August, states that the resolution is not an admission of liability.
Deloitte resolved the matter to “avoid the cost and distraction of protracted litigation”, it said.
The agreement also settles claims brought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a group founded by affirmative action opponent Edward Blum.
The claims were filed under the US False Claims Act, which permits whistleblowers to bring cases on the government’s behalf to recover taxpayer funds issued on the basis of false claims.
The DoJ said the American Alliance for Equal Rights will receive $4.3m from the settlement.
Deloitte Tax recently picked Chris Puglia as its first chief products officer. The role was created to advance the company’s technology and AI-enabled offerings.
