{
  "id": 7513228,
  "title": "Consulting giant Accenture to pay £18.5m to settle probe into hiring practices",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/consulting-giant-accenture-to-pay-18-5m-to-settle-probe-into-hiring",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-15T09:00:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/consulting-giant-accenture-to-pay-18-5m-to-settle-probe-into-hiring-practices/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.",
  "summary": "New York-listed consultancy giant Accenture has agreed to pay the US government $25m (£18.5m) to settle allegations over its diversity practices. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Accenture violated federal anti-discrimination requirements while certifying compliance to secure federal contracts. The US government claims that the Dublin-headquartered firm allocated costs related to…",
  "key_points": [
    "Accenture settles $18.5M DOJ probe into hiring practices",
    "Allegations of using race, sex quotas in hiring decisions",
    "Accenture denies wrongdoing, no liability admitted in settlement"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}