IBM reached a settlement with the federal government on Friday, agreeing to pay $17,077,043 to resolve allegations of “woke unconstitutional” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in hiring and employment.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the settlement agreement in a press release Friday.
“Racial discrimination is illegal, and government contractors cannot evade the law by repackaging it as DEI,” said Blanche in a statement. “The Department launched the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative to root out this misconduct, hold offenders accountable, and end this practice for good.”
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward added: “Merit drives promotion and opportunity. Not someone’s sex or race. Today’s settlement proves this Department’s commitment to ensure companies are not using taxpayer funded work to further woke unconstitutional practices in American workplaces.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had alleged that the New York-based technology giant “knowingly” made “false claims” about its hiring and employment practices in its federal contracts by identifying “diverse” candidates for hiring or promotions, while developing “race and sex demographic goals,” according to the settlement.
“The Nation’s anti-discrimination laws are clear and reflect our basic commitment that opportunity, compensation, and advancement should turn on merit and performance, and not immutable characteristics,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brenna E. Jenny.
She added, “When a company accepts federal funding while engaging in practices that sort, prefer, or disadvantage employees on the basis of race or sex, the company is stepping outside the conditions under which the government agreed to contract with them, and we will hold them accountable.”
IBM denied has denied that it had discriminatory and illegal DEI practices and said the settlement does not mean “an admission of liability,” the company told CNN.
“IBM is pleased to have resolved this matter,” an IBM spokesperson wrote in an email to the news network. “Our workforce strategy is driven by a single principle: having the right people with the right skills that our clients depend on.”
As Breitbart News has reported, the Trump administration has been cracking down on DEI practices in public and private sectors since early in the president’s second term.
On day one, President Donald Trump signed an order titled, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” describing the programs implemented by the Biden administration as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”
Under Trump, the DOJ has used the False Claims Act, which dates back to the Civil War, to reign in college DEI practices, the statute allowing the government to recover damages and assess penalties when violations occur.
The Trump administration’s campaign to end DEI practices has sent some Democrats into hyperbolic overdrive.
“When you attack diversity, equity, and inclusion, you attack the United States of America,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) railed this week. “We have the high ground on this issue.”
The DOJ explained the elements of the enforcement in its Friday announcement:
Most federal contracts contain provisions that require contractors to comply with anti-discrimination requirements as to employees and applicants for employment. As a condition to being a federal contractor, the company must certify that it will not discriminate against an employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, national origin, or sex and must further certify that it will take steps to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex.
The law also allows private citizens to file suit, claiming the government was defrauded and to keep a portion of any money the federal government recovers.
The False Claims Act was originally enacted in 1863 in response to defense contractor fraud during the American Civil War.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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