IBM has agreed to pay $17 million to resolve a Justice Department investigation that charged the tech firm with boosting minorities and women by illegally using race and sex in hiring and pay decisions.
The company shaped some jobs to give advantage to minority candidates, had special training and leadership programs open only to minorities or women and gave managers diversity goals for hiring and promotion, the Justice Department said.
IBM denied wrongdoing but paid the money to settle the claims.
The $17 million includes both restitution and civil fines.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the settlement is the first fruit of his Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, launched last year to pressure corporations to give up diversity policies that cross legal lines.
“Racial discrimination is illegal, and government contractors cannot evade the law by repackaging it as DEI,” Mr. Blanche said.
The department said IBM was cooperative in the investigation, including disclosing its conduct to the government.
The company also canceled programs that the DOJ challenged.
The case was settled under the False Claims Act. The Justice Department said as a federal contractor, IBM was required to meet certain nondiscrimination guidelines.
The diversity policies violated that, the department said.
