Nike’s frat-house culture exposed in shocking lawsuit
Nike’s alleged frat-boy corporate culture got exposed in a lawsuit by two women who say they were paid less than their male co-workers and had to put up with unchecked sexual harassment from superiors.
Execs allegedly called women “dykes” and “stupid bitch,” according to the suit. One male employee allegedly sent a nude photo of himself to a female co-worker, and reached up another’s skirt. The suit also alleges there was an official outing in 2015 where “scantily clad [female] go-go dancers” were present.
The sneaker giant failed to act on numerous such complaints about the bad behavior to its human resources department, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Beaverton, Oregon, which is seeking class-action status.
“Nike opposes discrimination of any type and has a longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion,” a Nike spokeswoman said Friday. “We are committed to competitive pay and benefits for our employees. The vast majority of Nike employees live by our values of dignity and respect for others.”
The suit comes on the heels of a mass defection and firing of Nike employees after the sports company announced the abrupt resignation in March of president Trevor Edwards — the No. 2 executive at Nike.
At the time, CEO Mark Parker conceded that there were internal “reports” that “do not reflect our core values of inclusivity, respect and empowerment.”
The suit was filed by Kelly Cahill, who had worked for Nike for more than three years until July 2017 as a senior producer, and Sara Johnston, a nine-year-plus account service rep. According to the suit, they also filed official complaints that other female employees were harassed.
The suit says Cahill ultimately left because she was paid $20,000 less in 2017 than a male colleague doing much the same work. Johnston left because she’d been passed over multiple times for a promotion, the complaint alleges.
An unnamed Nike executive to whom Johnston reported sexually propositioned her several times in messages, sent her a nude photograph of himself and then retaliated against her, blaming Johnston for work-related problems when she rebuffed his advances, according to the complaint.
The same executive reportedly had a habit of treating female Nike employees the same way — reaching his hand up a co-worker’s skirt once in front of other senior male executives. Johnston reported the incidents to her superiors and to human resources. The executive was not punished and instead was promoted, she alleges.
Cahill alleged that Daniel Tawiah, vice president of global brand digital-marketing innovation, referred to women as “dykes” in front of Cahill. Tawiah eventually was forced out of the company in April as part of the corporate purge.
Last month Nike said it would adjust the salaries of 7,000 employees — about 10 percent of its workforce — after it conducted an internal review of its compensation.