Female Nike Employees Sue Over Gender Bias

The law firms of Markowitz Herbold PC; Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho; Ackermann & Tilajef PC;  and India Lin Bodien, Attorney at Law filed a federal class action lawsuit today against Nike, Inc. for pay inequity and gender discrimination.

The complaint outlines how Nike’s corporate culture devalues and demeans its female employees. The suit alleges that for years Nike has engaged in practices that have perpetuated gender-based pay disparities, such as hiring women at lower salaries than men, discriminating during the performance review process, and promoting women less frequently than male employees doing substantially similar work. The plaintiffs also allege a culture of sexual harassment at Nike.

“The numbers don’t lie. On a global scale, currently 77 percent of Nike’s leadership team are men; 71 percent of its vice presidents are men; and 62 percent of its directors and senior directors are men,” says Plaintiffs’ attorney Laura Salerno Owens. “I’ve represented more than 50 Nike employees and their experiences have been consistent with the plaintiffs’. The more senior the job title, the smaller the percentage of women.”

“The way Nike marginalizes women at its headquarters is completely contrary to how it portrays itself to its customers as valuing women in sports and the importance of providing equal opportunity to play,” says Plaintiffs’ attorney Byron Goldstein of Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho.  “My firm has litigated some of the largest gender discrimination class actions, and we have seen that when companies take an opportunity like this to level the playing field for women in its workforce, it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs believe there are potentially hundreds of women covered by the class action. Current and former Nike headquarters employees who wish to report their experiences at the company should contact Markowitz Herbold at 1-800-354-5271.