IBM to Pay $17 Million to Settle DOJ’s DEI False Claim Probe

The Justice Department announced Friday International Business Machines Corp. will pay more than $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts by discriminating against employees and job applicants based on race, color, national origin, or sex.

The settlement resolves False Claims Act allegations that IBM knowingly maintained discriminatory employment practices, such as allegedly using a diversity modifier that tied bonus compensation to achieving demographic targets, allegedly altering interview criteria based on race or sex, developed race and sex demographic goals for business units, and allegedly offering certain training and development opportunities only to certain …