Accounting Firm Settles DOJ Claims Over Alleged Employment Discrimination

An accounting firm that acts as a federal contractor settled DOJ claims that it falsely certified compliance with equal employment opportunity requirements in its federal contracts while using race- and sex-based criteria in hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions.

According to the settlement agreement, the DOJ contended that from January 1, 2017, through the agreement's effective date, the firm took race or sex into account when making hiring, promotion, and staffing decisions to achieve progress toward non-public race- and sex-based workforce composition goals for business units. The DOJ stated that business units received monthly summaries tracking demographic goals, and that the compensation of approximately 150 of the firm's most senior partners could be impacted if their business units did not meet the demographic targets.

In the settlement agreement, the DOJ also stated that the firm sought to achieve statistical parity between underrepresented minorities and non-minorities among employees who were not assigned to client engagements, or "on the bench." Additionally, the DOJ stated that the firm offered training, mentoring, and leadership development programs that limited eligibility by race or sex.

The DOJ contended that the firm violated 31 U.S.C. 3729 ("False claims") by falsely certifying compliance with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

The firm agreed to pay $21.5 million to the United States, which includes $9.995 million in restitution. The settlement resolves a whistleblower action brought by the American Alliance for Equal Rights, which will receive $4.3 million of the settlement amount.