Nike faces federal probe over allegations of discrimination against white workers : NPR

The Nike logo appears above the post where the company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, March 22, 2017.

Richard Drew/AP

hide caption

toggle caption

Richard Drew/AP

NEW YORK — The federal workers’ rights agency revealed Wednesday that it is investigating sportswear giant Nike for allegedly discriminating against white employees through its diversity policies.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission disclosed the investigation in a motion filed in Missouri federal court demanding that Nike fully comply with a subpoena for information.

The EEOC sought the company’s criteria for selecting employees for termination, how it tracks and uses data on workers’ race and ethnicity, as well as information about programs that allegedly provided racially oriented mentoring, leadership or career development opportunities, according to court documents.

In a statement, Nike said the company has worked to cooperate with the EEOC and that the subpoena “appears to be a surprising and unusual escalation.”

“We have shared thousands of pages of information and detailed written responses to the EEOC’s investigation and are in the process of providing additional information,” Nike said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas quickly targeted diversity and inclusion policies she has long criticized as potentially discriminatory, closely aligning the agency with one of President Donald Trump’s top priorities.

Nike appears to be the highest-profile company that the EEOC has targeted with a formal, publicly confirmed anti-DEI investigation. In November, the EEOC issued a similar subpoena against financial services provider Northwestern Mutual.

“When there are compelling indications, including company admissions in numerous public filings, that an employer’s programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion may violate federal prohibitions against racial discrimination or other forms of unlawful discrimination, the EEOC will take all necessary steps – including subpoenas – to ensure the opportunity to fully and thoroughly investigate,” Lucas said in a statement.

The revelation comes two months after Lucas posted a call on social media urging white men to come forward if they have experienced racial or gender discrimination at work. The message urged eligible workers to contact the agency “as soon as possible” and referred users to the agency’s fact sheet on DEI discrimination.

The investigation against Nike, however, does not arise from any worker complaints against the company. Instead, Lucas filed his own complaint in May 2024 through a more rarely used tool known as a commissioner’s charge, according to court documents. His accusation comes just months after America First Legal, a conservative legal group founded by top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, sent the EEOC a letter outlining complaints against Nike and urging the agency to file a complaint with the commissioner.

America First Legal has flooded the EEOC with similar letters in recent years, calling for investigations into the DEI practices of major U.S. companies. It is unclear how many other companies the EEOC might target through such charges from the commissioner. The EEOC is prohibited from revealing any accusations – from workers or commissioners – unless they result in fines, settlements, lawsuits or other such public actions.

Lucas’ accusation, according to court filings, was based on information Nike shared publicly about its commitment to diversity, including executive statements and proxy statements. The charge, for example, cited Nike’s publicly stated 2021 goal of achieving 35% representation of racial and ethnic minorities in its corporate workforce by 2025.

Many U.S. companies have made similar commitments following the widespread 2020 protests for racial justice that followed the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man. Companies have said such commitments are not quotas but rather goals they hope to achieve through methods such as expanding recruiting efforts and eliminating bias in the hiring process.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, employers are prohibited from using race as a criterion for hiring or other employment decisions. Lucas has long warned that many companies are at risk of crossing this line through DEI efforts that would pressure executives to make decisions based on race.

In its statement, Nike said it complies with “all applicable laws, including those that prohibit discrimination. We believe our programs and practices comply with these obligations and take these matters seriously.”