Consulting giant Accenture to pay £18.5m to settle probe into hiring practices

Accenture, a New York-listed consultancy firm, has reached a $25 million (£18.5 million) settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to address allegations surrounding its diversity practices. According to the DOJ, Accenture allegedly violated federal anti-discrimination requirements while seeking federal contracts by allocating costs related to hiring and promotion practices directly to these contracts for reimbursement.

The US government further alleges that Accenture used race- and sex-based hiring quotas to guide hiring decisions and targeted specific demographics for senior roles. Notably, the government claims that Accenture held distinct discussions about candidates to further its race- or sex-based demographic goals. However, Accenture denies all allegations of wrongdoing, signing a 10-page settlement agreement without admitting liability.

The settlement includes $11.627 million in restitution, and no official determination of liability was made against the firm. This settlement follows a similar case where Deloitte, another major player, agreed to pay $21.5 million to the US government for alleged violations of federal 'equal opportunity' requirements in its contracts.