Dive Brief:
- In a lawsuit filed Monday, a former senior manager for consulting firm Accenture accused the company of promoting female workers over him in pursuit of a gender parity goal in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Raza v. Accenture).
- According to the complaint, despite receiving consistently positive reviews, the senior manager was passed over for a promotion in favor of a female subordinate who had “documented performance issues” and less experience. He was not promoted for multiple years and was eventually terminated as part of a “cost restructuring plan.”
- The lawsuit is among the latest in a series of “reverse discrimination” lawsuits that have been on the rise as DEI commitments engender more scrutiny.
Dive Insight:
According to the senior manager, Accenture’s refusal to promote him was due to a stated goal that the company would achieve a gender-balanced workforce by 2025. Although the plaintiff tied this goal to CEO Julie Sweet’s hiring in 2019, Accenture appeared to announce the plan in a 2017 press release, with then-CEO Pierre Nanterme saying diversity “makes our business strong and more innovative.”
Per the complaint, the senior manager submitted his case for promotion to managing director every year from 2019 to 2023. While the complaint only specifies one woman who received the role over him, it alleges he never received the promotion and spoke with multiple leaders, including a senior managing director and his career advisor, who agreed with his assessment that his lack of promotion was due to the company’s goal.
Specifically, the senior managing director told the senior manager “that he should not expect to be promoted anytime soon because Defendant’s gender parity targets required a certain number of female candidates to be promoted to [managing director] first,” according to the complaint.
The senior manager also alleged that he designed and led projects that were then passed off to previously uninvolved or less experienced female co-workers.
With DEI drawing more scrutiny than ever, attorneys have advised companies to review their policies and ensure they are free of quotas, set asides and preferences. In an op-ed for HR Dive, Jonathan Segal, a partner with Duane Morris, noted that certain aspirational goals also may be seen as “de facto quotas” that “encourage illegal conduct.”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a similar warning in guidance released March 19. “Under Title VII, an employer initiative, policy, program, or practice may be unlawful if it involves an employer or other covered entity taking an employment action motivated — in whole or in part — by race, sex, or another protected characteristic,” the agency explained, including promotion in a list of potential employment actions.
Many companies have stepped back from specific goals; Bank of America, for example, has removed aspirational DEI-related goals and no longer requires a diverse set of applicants for open roles. Citi has made similar moves.
HR Dive reached out to Accenture but did not immediately hear back.
