Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc and Accenture LLP have agreed to pay the United States $25 million to resolve alleged False Claims Act violations involving anti-discrimination conditions in federal contracts. The settlement covers allegations that, from 2017 to the present, Accenture Federal Services falsely certified compliance while considering race or sex in hiring, promotions and access to certain employee programs.
Most federal contracts require contractors to provide equal opportunity to employees and applicants, according to the Justice Department. As a condition of federal contracting, companies must certify that they will not discriminate because of race or sex and will take steps to ensure applicants are employed and employees are treated during employment “without regard to” race or sex.
The United States alleged that Accenture Federal Services used race or sex in hiring decisions to advance non-public workforce composition goals. Business unit leaders received monthly summaries showing the percentage of each race and sex within their units, with figures marked green, yellow or red depending on whether representation met or exceeded a goal, was within 5 percent of it, or was below 5 percent of it. The government alleged that these goals drove changes in hiring practices, including a round of entry-level hiring at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 intended to make further progress toward racial representation goals.
The government also alleged that race or sex factored into promotion decisions. During consideration of managing director promotions, Accenture Federal Services allegedly held separate discussions about candidates who advanced its demographic goals, highlighted those candidates’ names in color during the review process and created a separate pipeline of potential candidates who would further those goals. The United States further alleged that eligibility for some training, mentoring, leadership development and educational opportunities was restricted by race or sex. One cited example was the Amplify to Elevate training program, which ran from August 2022 to February 2025 and reserved participation for employees based on race.
The resolution resulted from coordination between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. The department linked its False Claims Act enforcement work to the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud and the National Fraud Enforcement Division, both launched this year to address fraud, waste and abuse in federal programs. The claims resolved through the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.