Federal Contractors on Notice: $93 Million in Settlements, and an Unprecedented New Era of Qui Tam Whistleblower Exposure

A three-part article series for HR Unlimited, Inc. | November 2026 The Changing Landscape of Federal Antidiscrimination Enforcement Before January 21, 2025, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) was the primary agency enforcing Executive Order 11246 among federal contractors. Discrimination violations were generally addressed through conciliation agreements, corrective actions, and, when appropriate, monetary…
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What Agencies Can Actually Ask For: Books, Records & Accounts

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 4 OF 4 The final brief in this series: what to have audit ready before a request ever arrives. Recap: FAR 52.222-90 requires contractors to furnish “all information and reports, including providing access to books, records, and accounts, as required by the Contracting Officer.” No agency has…
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What This Means in Practice: A Compliance Checklist

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 3 OF 4 Parts 1–2 covered the rules and the three certification layers. This brief: what to actually do about it. Recap: Contractors now certify nondiscrimination through SAM.gov representations, the EO 14173 certification embedded in each contract, and FAR 52.222-90. Here’s what stays in force separately, and…
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The Three Certification Layers Every Federal Contractor Must Know

“VERIFY BEFORE YOU CERTIFY” — 3-MINUTE BRIEF, PART 2 OF 4 Part 1 covered what changed. This brief: the three layers contractors certify today. Recap: Executive Orders 14173 and 14398 replaced the old EO 11246 affirmative-action framework with a certification-based model, enforceable through the False Claims Act. Here’s how that model actually works, layer by…
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FEDERAL CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE ALERT: $25 Million Accenture Settlement – Civil Rights Noncompliance Can Become False Claims Act Exposure

Federal contractors should take notice. On September 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Accenture Federal Services, Accenture plc, and Accenture LLP agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with nondiscrimination requirements in federal contracts while allegedly discriminating in employment…
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