Accenture has become the latest company to make a payment linked to President Donald Trump’s DEI policies.
The technology and consulting company agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it did not meet anti-discrimination obligations in federal contracts, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
The agency alleged that Accenture discriminated against employees and job applicants by considering race or sex in hiring and promotion decisions from 2017 through 2026.
Among the allegations were claims that Accenture gave candidates being considered for promotion to managing director greater visibility when doing so advanced race or sex demographic goals. The agency also said leaders of business units within Accenture Federal Services received monthly reports showing the precise percentage of each race and sex in their units to guide hiring decisions.
An Accenture spokesperson told Themoneytimes that the company follows applicable laws and that the settlement was not an admission of liability.
The spokesperson said Accenture had cooperated with the government’s review and was pleased to put the matter behind it to avoid the costs and resource demands of extended litigation.
Accenture is the third major consulting firm to reach a settlement worth at least $1 million this year through the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, a process Attorney General Todd Blanche launched in May 2025.
In April, IBM agreed to pay the United States $17 million to settle similar employment-discrimination allegations, while Deloitte paid $21.5 million in August. Together, the three companies have paid $63.5 million.
All three were accused of comparable DEI practices while working under federal contracts, which the government said violated the False Claims Act. IBM and Deloitte likewise did not admit culpability in their settlements.
The agreements are part of the Trump administration’s wider investigation into DEI practices at major companies that hold federal contracts.
At the beginning of his second administration, Trump signed an executive order ending diversity programs across the federal government. The approach spread into the private sector, and many large companies scaled back their DEI practices.
Deloitte, a major federal contractor as well as a provider of services to corporate clients, eliminated some DEI policies and instructed some employees to remove pronouns from their email signatures.
Consulting firms have also faced pressure under this administration to justify their fees. In March 2025, federal agencies were asked to review spending on contracts with 10 major firms, including Deloitte and Accenture Federal Services.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said at the time that the administration’s cost-cutting effort had affected Accenture’s revenue and slowed the procurement of new projects. Since March 2025, the company’s stock has declined by roughly 40%.