Accenture, a global professional services company, has agreed to pay $25 million to settle Justice Department claims it used race and sex in hiring and promotions while certifying on federal contracts that it does not discriminate.
The payment covers Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc and, Accenture LLP, which operate under the Accenture brand. Federal contracts require contractors to certify that they will not discriminate by race or sex and will treat applicants and employees “without regard to” those categories. Prosecutors say Accenture Federal Services, known as AFS, kept making that certification from 2017 on while its hiring and promotion practices did the opposite. …