Deloitte just became the latest company to face the consequences of President Donald Trump's crackdown on DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
The Big Four professional services firm agreed to pay $21.5 million to settle allegations that it violated rules against employment discrimination in its federal contracts, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. The agency accused Deloitte of discriminating on the basis of race and sex in its hiring and promotion practices.
Deloitte did not admit liability as part of the settlement. The company said in a statement it was "pleased to have resolved this matter to avoid the cost and distraction of protracted litigation."
The Justice Department called out DEI practices in its statement announcing the settlement.
"Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful," Attorney General Todd Blanche said. "The Justice Department will aggressively pursue government contractors that have used taxpayer dollars to fund unlawful discrimination."
The settlement is part of the Trump administration's broader probe of DEI practices at major companies with federal contracts. Several companies have pulled back on their DEI practices in recent years following pressure from conservatives and Trump's return to office. In early 2025, Deloitte cut some of its DEI policies and told some staff to remove their pronouns from their email signatures.
In April, IBM agreed to pay $17 million to settle similar allegations of employment discrimination. IBM did not admit liability as part of the settlement.
In a separate settlement also announced Tuesday by the state of Indiana, Deloitte agreed to pay $1.2 million over allegations that it violated nondiscrimination requirements in its work with the state. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita's office said in a statement that the settlement was "the first of its kind between a state and a government contractor."
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Kelsey is a senior reporter for Business Insider, where she covers business and tech news as well as stories about travel, luxury, and consulting.Her feature story "Disaster at 18,200 feet" received awards from the New York Press Club and the North American Travel Journalists Association, as well as honorable mention from the Society of American Travel Writers. It was also included on Longreads' and Pocket's best of 2022 lists. She has also received an American Journalism Online Award for her coverage on missing and murdered Indigenous people in Wyoming.She's appeared on CBS, NPR, NBC, and other outlets to discuss her work. She previously worked on the world news desk at the BBC in London and received a master's in journalism from Northwestern University.She can be reached by email at [email protected] or via the encrypted-messaging app Signal @kelseyv.21.Popular storiesDisaster on Denali: Inside a 1,000-foot fall on America's highest peakThrifting is more popular than ever. It's also never been worse.Rolex wouldn't service the vintage watch my mom inherited. Watchmakers say it happens all the time.A tiny, invasive bug and the climate crisis are changing how guitars are made, and shifting the course of music historyThe tourism free-for-all is overGovernment-run boarding schools were founded to 'civilize' Native Americans. Hundreds of dead children remain buried in the schoolyard graves.Meet the Texas minister who helps fly dozens of women to New Mexico every month to get abortionsPeople are flocking to Colorado for the great outdoors, but the air pollution is so bad, it's forcing many to stay insideInside Kabul: An aid worker reveals the devastating chaos that erupted during the US exit from Afghanistan
