US Equal Employment Alternative Fee’s probe seen as newest effort by Trump administration to roll again variety and inclusion insurance policies.
Printed On 5 Feb 2026
Nike is being investigated in the USA over claims that it discriminated in opposition to white employees via its variety and inclusion insurance policies.
The US Equal Employment Alternative Fee (EEOC) stated on Wednesday that it had filed a courtroom movement to compel Nike to supply info associated to allegations of “intentional race discrimination” in opposition to white staff.
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The allegations relate to a suspected sample of discrimination in “hiring, promotion, demotion, or separation choices, together with choice for layoffs; internship packages; and mentoring, management growth and different profession growth packages”, the US authorities company stated.
The company stated it took the motion after Nike had failed to reply to a subpoena for numerous info, together with the standards utilized in deciding on staff for redundancies and setting executives’ pay.
EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas, an ardent critic of racial variety initiatives who was appointed final yr by President Donald Trump, stated US anti-discrimination legislation is “colour-blind” and protects staff of “all races”.
“Because of President Trump’s dedication to imposing our nation’s civil rights legal guidelines, the EEOC has renewed its deal with even-handed enforcement of Title VII,” Lucas stated in an announcement, referring to a piece of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits employment discrimination based mostly on race, color, faith or intercourse.
Nike, based mostly in Beaverton, Oregon, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The EEOC’s motion is seen as the most recent transfer by the Trump administration to roll again insurance policies selling variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) within the office.
In one in every of his first acts upon returning to the White Home, Trump signed an government order to abolish “radical” and “wasteful” DEI initiatives launched beneath his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Like many company giants within the US, Nike publicly backed social justice causes similar to Black Lives Matter previous to Trump’s re-election in 2024.
Between 2020 and 2021, Nike’s share of non-white staff rose greater than 4 proportion factors, probably the most amongst companies aside from healthcare supplier Danaher, in line with a Bloomberg evaluation of firm knowledge reported to the EEOC.
