By Kristen Parisi
Publication Date: 2026-04-13 16:47:00
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Apr. 10 that it had reached a first-of-its-kind settlement with IBM, whereby the company agreed to pay $17 million in damages over its DEI programming.
The government accused the company of violating the False Claims Act, saying IBM “knowingly maintained practices that the United States contends were discriminatory employment practices” by having “discriminated against employees and applicants for employment because of race, color, national origin, or sex.” The DOJ also accused IBM of using diversity as a bonus metric, and claimed that it afforded employees certain leadership and educational opportunities based on gender.
The DOJ launched a Civil Rights Fraud Initiative investigation into IBM over its DEI practices in May 2025. Around the same time, IBM appeared to reverse course on decades of DEI efforts, eliminating its DEI department and Diversity Council, HR Brew reported at the time. The company also ended allyship training…
