A complaint that was recently filed against Nike accuses the apparel and footwear giant of gender discrimination. A group of women employees who formerly worked for the company say Nike routinely discriminated against women, and fostered a hostile, intolerant work environment. They claim they were treated less fairly than men in work conditions, pay, and promotions. The class-action-status complaint was led by two former employees who worked at the company’s headquarters.
Although women complained repeatedly to human resources at Nike about discrimination and harassment, including sexual assault, their complaints were either not properly handled or were ignored. The lawsuit claims that women were frequently passed over for promotions, and that they received smaller salaries, bonuses, and stock options. Female Nike employees have also claimed that they were excluded, treated with hostility, and demeaned.
The goal of the lawsuit is to change company pay practices, provide back pay to those affected, elicit an unspecified amount of punitive damages, and assign a court-appointed monitor. The claims initially came to light when several female employees presented the CEO with a survey on gender discrimination. Since then, Nike has admitted that it failed at hiring and promoting women, conducted an internal review of its pay practices, announced raises for 7,000 employees, and fired 11 executives. However, none of this was soon enough for the women who had been affected.
Nike is known for portraying itself as a company that respects and values women in sports and supports equal opportunities. This is in great contrast to what the company’s former female employees say they have experienced. Many of them believed that, for women, rising in the ranks at Nike headquarters was akin to an unclimbable pyramid.
Gender discrimination and sexual harassment can happen in any industry and workplace, no matter how high-profile. You have the right to work in an environment where you are not in fear of being treated differently because of your gender, or for any other reason. If you have experienced mistreatment at work, please call the Philadelphia employment discrimination lawyers at Sidney L. Gold & Associates, P.C. We can guide you toward making the very best decisions and build a strong case to protect your workplace rights. Please call 215-569-1999 or contact us online for a free consultation. Our office is in Philadelphia, and we proudly serve clients from the surrounding areas, including Bucks County, Chester County, Delaware County, Montgomery County, and throughout New Jersey.
