IBM's agreement to pay the Trump administration $17 million to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act with policies aimed at increasing the diversity of its workforce continues to raise more questions than answers about what the administration views as illegal diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
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"This settlement agreement does give some answers … that I think contractors can use as they compare their own programs and whether they have any cleanup to do or adjustments that they can do now," said Dominique L. Casimir, co-chair of Blank Rome LLP's general litigation practice group, whose practice focuses on government contracts.
"But it does show that the administration is willing to go well past the time that it took office to reach this conduct," Casimir said.
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While these preceding actions made it so the administration's allegations against IBM and resulting settlement weren't necessarily unexpected, Jennifer A. Short, a partner with Blank Rome LLP's white collar defense and investigations practice group, said the $17 million figure "is nothing to sneeze at."
"It's enough that DOJ can put out, as it did, a flashy press release and say that it got this $17 million settlement. Beyond that, it is very difficult to tell how that $17 million was derived," Short said, explaining that under the FCA rubric, as traditionally applied, the government's damages are equal to the amount it paid in excess of what the contractor would have received had the government known about the fraud.
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"IBM’s FCA Deal Creates Unease over DEI Enforcement Scope," by Madeline Lyskawa, was published in Law360 on April 14, 2026.