Last month, the DOJ issued a memorandum announcing its priorities for the newly-created National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”), signaling the administration’s intent to create a single DOJ unit focused on prosecuting all aspects of fraud including civil fraud, criminal fraud, tax fraud, and related white collar crimes. In part, the memorandum announced that the Fraud Division will bring a “whole-of-government approach” to fraud that uses, among other things, increased resources and personnel, data driven analytics, civil and criminal forfeiture tools, and the False Claims Act (“FCA”) as a means to combat fraud, waste and abuse.
In line with these directives, the Fraud Division is stepping up its recent efforts to police purported civil rights violations in the form of improperly implemented affirmative action programs and diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives in the workplace. DOJ recently announced a settlement with a global consulting firm for $25 million to resolve alleged violations of the FCA connected to claims that, from 2017 to the present, the firm falsely certified compliance with anti-discrimination requirements embedded in its federal contracts while simultaneously engaging in discriminatory employment practices based on race and sex.
Most federal contracts contain equal opportunity provisions requiring contractors to certify that they will not discriminate against employees or applicants because of race or sex, and that they will...
Last month, the DOJ issued a memorandum announcing its priorities for the newly-created National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”), signaling the administration’s intent to create a sin...