New York
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is probing Nike in response to unspecified allegations that the corporate discriminates against White employees, the agency mentioned Wednesday.
The agency mentioned it’s investigating potential discrimination against White employees which will have occurred partially attributable to “NIKE’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-related 2025 Targets and other DEI-related objectives.”
The subpoena enforcement motion is one other signal of a shift in views on discrimination underneath the Trump administration, which has sought to finish variety initiatives and as a substitute look at whether or not such applications unfairly goal White individuals.
“Thanks to President Trump’s commitment to enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws, the EEOC has renewed its focus on evenhanded enforcement of Title VII,” EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas mentioned in an announcement.
In the Wednesday submitting, the EEOC didn’t establish particular person victims. Rather, the submitting refers to “all White employees, former employees, prospective employees, and current and prospective training program applicants and participants who have been, continue to be, or may be in the future adversely affected by the [alleged] unlawful employment practices.”
Nike known as Wednesday’s actions “a surprising and unusual escalation” in an emailed assertion and mentioned it has already “shared thousands of pages of information.”
“We are committed to fair and lawful employment practices and follow all applicable laws, including those that prohibit discrimination,” the assertion mentioned. “We believe our programs and practices are consistent with those obligations and take these matters seriously. We will continue our attempt to cooperate with the EEOC and will respond to the petition.”
Lucas first issued a discrimination cost against Nike in 2024, when she was a commissioner, based on the submitting. Since turning into chair, she has shifted the priorities of the EEOC to handle discrimination against White individuals. In an notorious December social media submit, Lucas commissioned potential victims of “DEI-related discrimination.”
“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws,” she said in the X post.
The EEOC mentioned it’s requesting info from Nike going again to 2018 over “race-based workforce representation quotas” and allegedly deciding layoffs and promotions no less than partially attributable to race. The agency additionally requested for details about 16 mentoring and profession growth applications that had been “race restricted.”
The wide-ranging probe is a sign that no employer, regardless of how distinguished, is free from scrutiny over the Trump administration’s anti-DEI objectives, mentioned Sam Mitchell, a Chicago-based lawyer who argues employment disputes instances.
“Nike is being made an example of,” Mitchell instructed NCS.
The EEOC mentioned the agency filed the enforcement motion after Nike didn’t voluntarily present all the knowledge required by the subpoena.
In a 2025 authorized submitting, attorneys representing Nike argued the subpoena needs to be revoked “because its itemized requests are unduly burdensome, vague, overbroad, disproportionate to the needs of the investigation, seek irrelevant and time-barred information, and constitute an impermissible fishing expedition.”