THE MORNING RANT: Big Four Accounting Firm Settles with DOJ for $21 Million Due to Racist, DEI Hiring Practices

As a reminder of just how deep the woke virus seeped into corporate America, even the conservative world of public accounting is infected. It was just last week that I wrote about red state Attorney Generals notifying the Big Four accounting firms that they may be flirting with criminal behavior by pursuing climate and ESG goals at the expense of their clients. The AGs’ letter specifically stated that the accounting firms may be engaged in “deceptive and unfair acts and practices” because of their climate and social justice agenda.

Now comes news that one of those four firms has just agreed to pay a $21 million fine as a result of its racially discriminatory hiring practices.

“Deloitte agrees to pay $21.5 million to settle DOJ probe into DEI practices” [Fox Business – 08/25/2026]

Accounting firm Deloitte agreed to pay $21.5 million to settle Department of Justice allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in federal contracts and discriminating on the basis of race or sex, the department announced Tuesday.

As a federal contractor, Deloitte is not allowed to engage in hiring practices that prioritize candidates based on their sex or the color of their skin. Perhaps because Deloitte thought it was engaging in the “good” kind of racist hiring, it must have thought the government would smile on its vulgar actions. In fact, the Obama/Biden administrations certainly did favor such discrimination. However, racial discrimination in the name of DEI is not tolerated under the Trump administration’s Department of Justice.

Deloitte had little choice but to settle, because its proven actions were explicitly racist and well documented. Per the DOJ, Deloitte assigned its leaders goals for required racial demographics, and if too many white men were hired, there were negative consequences for partners, principals, and managing directors. Monthly tracking reports were distributed documenting how successful the various units were in denying jobs and promotions to white men.

Newly sworn-in Attorney general Todd Blanche stated about Deloitte’s institutional racism ”Government contractors cannot reward or penalize employees based on race or sex — and labeling the practice DEI does not make it lawful. The Justice Department will aggressively pursue government contractors that have used taxpayer dollars to fund unlawful discrimination."

Deloitte’s left-wing CEO, Jason Girzadas, is a huge fan of DEI. At his now-deleted Twitter account (@jgirzadas), Mr. Girzadas stated that “#DEI is a pillar of focus at @Deloitte, as we work to find new initiatives that drive purpose and impact.” Apparently one of those “new initiatives” was setting formal goals for discriminating against white men, and instituting corporate protocols to punish those who failed to discriminate accordingly.

Mr. Girzadas has not been fired, despite his racist leadership costing the accounting firm millions in fines. Even more damaging may be the reputational damage to Deloitte. I would never recommend hiring Deloitte so long as the leadership that enforced racial quotas remains in place.

You’ll not be surprised to learn that according to his Deloitte biography Mr. Girzadas is on the Board of Directors of the US Chamber of Commerce and is also a member of the Wall Street Journal CEO Council. Both are formerly respectable business organizations now captured by the left, and pushing the left’s agenda.

What is most despicable about people like Jason Girzadas is that he has reached the pinnacle of success, and is likely earning more than $10 million per year, yet his white-guilt has him boasting about shutting the door of opportunity to young men who might want to try to follow his path. He is living large while feeling smug about denying job opportunities to young accountants seeking their first job.

Related to all this I have a few other thoughts:

• The “Accountant Shortage”: There is a well documented shortage of new CPAs and accounting graduates. Can you imagine how awful it would be if you were in charge of hiring at Deloitte when there is a shortage of potential accounting hires, yet you’ll get punished if you hire a qualified white man?

• Why would a young man want to pursue a degree in accounting when the Big Four seek to avoid hiring you based on your race?

• This is yet another example of why young men are understandably disaffected. The Great Awokening mainstreamed the hatred of white men. Those of us already engaged in our careers hunkered down and lay low in our corporate jobs, but young men were told they could not participate in corporate America at all.

• We can hate on podcast bros, but while academia and corporate America was making clear their antagonism toward white men, the podcast bros welcomed them.

• HR is not to blame for corporate wokeness. Truth be told, many (most?) corporations have now outsourced most HR functions to subcontractors primarily staffed with screen-readers in India. The blame for corporate wokeness lies squarely on senior executives in the C-Suites. They are crusading true believers in DEI, ESG, and the climate hoax. They need to be replaced.

It is heartening that the Trump administration is aggressively targeting the criminal DEI and ESG policies of corporate America.

It is disheartening that Deloitte is just going to pay a fine without any further consequences for its leadership. I am ready to see some corporate executives receive the Enron treatment for their unlawful actions in support of the woke agenda.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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