Federal Contractor Corner: Accenture agrees to settle FCA claims for $25M
Accenture agreed to pay $25M to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by falsely certifying that it complied with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although Accenture denied the allegations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that since 2017 the company had taken race and sex into account in hiring, promotion, and leadership development to meet “non-public” workforce composition goals. The press release stated that Accenture was working toward “stealth goals” to meet race- and sex-based targets for the makeup of its workforce, which were documented internally in monthly reports. The agreement doesn’t cover any current or future EEOC complaints that cover similar conduct.
Deloitte agrees to settle FCA claims for $21.5M
Deloitte settled FCA allegations for $21.5M. The DOJ claimed that beginning in 2017 Deloitte falsely certified it was in compliance with its obligations not to discrimination based on sex and race. The DOJ claimed the following Deloitte practices violated Title VII:
- Tracking workforce composition goals by race and sex;
- Affecting executive compensation based on race and sex workforce goals;
- Setting composition goals by race and sex for promotion;
- Identifying staffing for projects based on race and sex; and
- Limiting development programs based on race and sex.
The agreement didn’t release any currently pending or future EEOC charges covering the same conduct.