Green, yellow, red. According to the US government, managers at Accenture Federal Services received monthly workforce reports with a traffic-light system showing how their teams measured up against internal racial and gender representation goals.
The Justice Department alleges those numbers influenced who was hired, promoted and given access to career-building opportunities, even as the company certified compliance with federal anti-discrimination requirements.
Accenture has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve the allegations. It denies wrongdoing, and there has been no determination of liability. The case puts a powerful question before corporate America: what happens when the government paying your bills challenges the employment practices behind your compliance promises?
Sign up for Open Magazine's ad-free experience
Enjoy uninterrupted access to premium content and insights.
Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc and Accenture LLP have agreed to pay the United States $25 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act.
The government’s case centres on Accenture Federal Services, or AFS, and its obligations as a federal contractor. According to the DOJ, AFS certified that it complied with equal employment opportunity requirements while allegedly allowing race or sex to influence employment decisions.
The allegations cover conduct from 2017 through the settlement announcement in September 2026. They span...
In a 2017 piece in The New York Times, voting expert Ari Berman wrote, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed tactics that prevented blacks, Hispanics and other minority groups from voting. But fo...