Nike under investigation for allegedly discriminating against white employees
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has formally launched an investigation into Nike, probing allegations that the sportswear giant discriminated against white employees and job applicants through its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programmes.
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The EEOC’s court filing says it is investigating “systemic allegations of DEI-related intentional race discrimination”, including whether Nike engaged in “a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white employees, applicants and training programme participants”. The information sought by the agency includes how Nike selected employees for retrenchments, how it tracks and uses race and ethnicity data, executive compensation linked to diversity goals, and details of around 16 mentoring, leadership and other career development programmes that allegedly had race-restricted elements.
Unusual origin of the complaint
Unlike most EEOC cases, this investigation did not stem from a complaint by Nike employees.
Instead, EEOC chair Andrea Lucas, a Trump appointee, filed her own complaint in May 2024 using a rarely used tool known as a commissioner’s charge, citing Nike’s publicly stated diversity commitments — including a 2021 goal to achieve 35 % racial and ethnic minority representation by 2025 — as evidence.
Conservative group America First Legal had also written to the EEOC urging the agency to take action.
Nike responds with surprise
Nike has described the escalation as “surprising and unusual”, emphasising that it has provided thousands of pages of documents and detailed responses to the EEOC’s inquiry, and says it remains committed to fair and lawful employment practices that comply with anti-discrimination laws.
The investigation is the highest-profile federal action yet targeting corporate diversity programmes under the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on DEI initiatives. President Trump has signed executive orders restricting DEI efforts across the federal government and encouraged enforcement against what he and allies describe as “reverse discrimination”. EEOC leadership under Lucas has repeatedly criticised diversity policies that consider race, arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires colour-blind enforcement of workplace discrimination law.
She has previously urged white men to come forward if they have been discriminated for being white and/or male.