Deloitte to pay $21.5 million to settle Trump administration's DEI investigation

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.”