WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Nike, Inc. for alleged racial and sex discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Nike is a publicly traded corporation incorporated under the laws of the State of Oregon. It has affirmatively represented to its shareholders, investors, and the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is and will continue favoring specific individuals because of their race, color, national origin, or sex in its employment practices. For example, the company boasts on its website:
The Company’s “2025 Targets Summary” reveals that Nike appears to use numerical quotas for hiring, training, and promotion. For example, by 2025 Nike aims to have “50% of women in global corporate workforce and 45% in leadership positions.”
Nike CEO John Donahoe similarly represented a goal in August of 2021: “he also aims to have 30% “representation of racial and ethnic minorities at the director level and above in Nike’s U.S. workforce.””
These “goals” are affirmed and repeated by the Company on its website, where it stresses the importance of an “inclusive community” but fails to include white, straight men in the “Employee Networks, collectively known as NikeUNITED.”
AFL also sent a letter to the Executive Chairman and Board of Directors at Nike reminding them of their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders and overt violations of federal civil rights laws. AFL will not cease in its legal battle for equality under the law for all Americans.
Statement from Gene Hamilton, America First Legal Vice President and General Counsel:
“America First Legal has been a trailblazer in the fight for true equality for all Americans. Organizations like Nike have openly and proudly displayed policies that appear to be facially discriminatory and illegal. It is crucial that the EEOC does what Congress ordered it to do and to hold Nike – and any brands that engage in this apparently illegal behavior – accountable. We will continue to file complaints against any corporation that puts DEI above the law,” said Gene Hamilton.
Read the letters here and here.
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Photo credit: NDABCREATIVITY / Adobe Stock
