The Department of Justice this month announced that IBM has agreed to pay the federal government more than $17 million to resolve allegations that the company engaged in illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion practices while performing billions of dollars in government contracts. The settlement marks the first resolution under the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative.

It sends an unmistakable message: employers (and especially federal contractors) that promote illegal discriminatory practices under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” over merit-based programs, do so at their own peril.