Lockheed Martin Agrees to Pay About $29.5 Million to Resolve Alleged Employment Discrimination Violations
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on November 2 a two-part settlement with Lockheed Martin Corporation, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Lockheed has agreed to pay a total of approximately $29.5 million to resolve allegations relating to employment discrimination and related false certifications of compliance with federal civil rights laws while serving as a federal contractor. This includes $22 million to be paid to the United States under the Justice Department agreement, and approximately $7.5 million to be paid to over 1,000 affected employees under the EEOC settlement.
The Justice Department alleged that from 2019 to the present, Lockheed falsely certified compliance with federal contract conditions requiring that it not discriminate against employees or applicants because of race or sex, while engaging in discriminatory race and sex-based employment practices. The resolution follows other settlements under the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, launched by the Justice Department in May 2025. The United States alleged that, starting in 2021, Lockheed operated a Compensation Adder program awarding additional pay increases to the top 20% of employees within each business area, and that some human resources personnel pressured business leaders to add or remove particular employees based on race after statistical analyses flagged the race and sex composition of selection lists. It also alleged that Lockheed took race or sex into account in hiring and promotion decisions, including through non-public workforce composition goals and demographic performance metrics in a management incentive plan, and offered certain training, mentoring and leadership development programs on the basis of race or sex.
"Companies, especially those that do business with the federal government, should not make DEI compensation decisions that prioritize an employee's race over the merit of their work," said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. "This is the Department's fourth False Claims Act settlement resolving allegations of racial discrimination against employees." Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division said federal contractors must certify that they will make employment decisions, including compensation decisions, without regard to race or sex.
The Justice Department settlement also resolves claims brought under the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions by Tim Booher, a former Lockheed vice president, who will receive $4,400,000. The EEOC settlement resolves a 2025 Commissioner's Charge filed by EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, which alleged Lockheed violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by engaging in race discrimination against white employees, including in performance assessments and in bonus and other compensation decisions, including via the Compensation Adder program. The EEOC agreement requires Lockheed to comply with Title VII and Executive Order 14151 and to maintain a merit-based workplace in which race and sex are not considered in hiring, compensation, bonus, or promotion decisions, and the EEOC may review compliance over the term of the agreement. "Title VII requires employers to treat employees as individuals, ensuring that workplace opportunities, compensation, and rewards are not allocated based on race or sex," Lucas said.
The Justice Department said Lockheed cooperated in the resolution of these matters. The claims resolved in the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国司法部总部罗伯特·F·肯尼迪大楼。APK 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. Photo by APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
