Nike, a leading American sportswear company, was indicted on charges of reverse discrimination against white workers through diversity management.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 4th (local time), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Planning Commission (EEOC) announced that it is investigating ‘systematic allegations of intentional racial discrimination related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)’ targeting white Nike employees and job seekers.
DEI is a value system that respects the different individual characteristics of members within an organization and ensures fair opportunities. It is a concept that originated in the United States under the influence of the civil rights movement and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act in the 1960s, and has transformed beyond a simple ethical responsibility into a core management strategy for most companies.
This committee decision is the first to state that DEI management may constitute discrimination against white people.
President Donald Trump increased his approval rating by absorbing white backlash against DEI management, and through this action, the EEOC has taken the lead in interpreting the Trump administration’s DEI policy.
EEOC Chairman Andrea Lucas, who led this action, filed a discrimination lawsuit against Nike since his tenure as commissioner in 2024. At the time, the Democratic Party had the majority in the EEOC, but now the Republican Party holds the majority, so it seems likely that a decision unfavorable to Nike will be made.
Nike is a company that has been criticized by President Trump for racial discrimination. This is because the advertisement used Colin Kaepernick, an American professional football (NFL) player who took part in the anti-racism protests in the United States in 2020 that began with the slogan ‘Black lives are precious’ and knelt on one knee while the national anthem was playing.
Nike has previously expressed conflicting political opinions with President Trump. In 2017, when he was CEO, Nike Chairman Mark Pucker criticized President Trump’s executive order banning entry into the United States from Islamic countries through an internal memo, saying, “Nike believes in a world where everyone celebrates the power of diversity.”
In particular, diversity issues are a core management goal of Nike. In 2021, the company announced a five-year plan to create a diverse workforce, expanding female leadership and increasing the proportion of racial minorities among employees in the United States to 35%. In its recently released fiscal year 2023 report, it announced that it had doubled its investment in professional development programs for minorities in the U.S. and also operated a program to attract diverse suppliers.
In response to this action, Nike responded, “This escalation of the situation is disconcerting and unusual,” and added, “We have participated in good faith in the EEOC’s investigation into our personnel practices, programs, and decisions and have made ongoing efforts to inform and cooperate constructively with the agency.”
Nike’s lawyers criticized the subpoena as “broad, vague, and unduly burdensome.”
Reporter Seo Hee-won shw@etnews.com
