Deloitte just became the latest company to face the fallout from President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
The Big Four The professional services company agreed to pay $21.5 million to settle allegations that it violated rules against employment discrimination in its federal contracts, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. The agency accused Deloitte of discriminating on the basis of race and gender in its hiring and promotion practices.
Deloitte did not admit liability as part of the settlement. The company said in a statement that it was “pleased to have resolved this matter to avoid the expense and distraction of lengthy litigation.”
The Justice Department cited the DEI practices in its statement announcing the settlement.
“Government contractors cannot reward or punish employees based on race or gender – and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The Department of Justice will aggressively pursue government contractors who have used taxpayer dollars to fund unlawful discrimination.”
The settlement is part of the Trump administration’s broader investigation into DEI practices at major companies with federal contracts. Several companies have withdrawn their policies DEI practices in recent years under pressure from conservatives and Trump’s return to office. Early 2025, Deloitte is cutting back some of its DEI policies and told some employees to remove their pronouns from their email signatures.
In April, IBM agreed to pay $17 million to settle similar allegations of employment discrimination. IBM did not admit liability as part of the settlement.
In a separate settlement also announced Tuesday by the state of Indiana, Deloitte agreed to pay $1.2 million over allegations that it violated nondiscrimination requirements in its work with the state. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office said in a statement that the settlement was “the first of its kind between a state and a government contractor.”
