The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has opened an investigation into Nike, alleging the company’s diversity policies discriminated against white employees. The agency disclosed the probe in a court filing in federal court in Missouri, where it is seeking enforcement of a subpoena demanding documents and information from the sportswear maker.
According to the filings, the EEOC is seeking Nike’s criteria for selecting employees for layoffs, how the company collects and uses race and ethnicity data, and details about programs that the agency says may have limited mentoring, leadership or career-development opportunities on the basis of race. Nike said it has cooperated with the EEOC, supplied thousands of pages of documents and written responses, and is providing additional information. The company called the subpoena “a surprising and unusual escalation.”
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas has made scrutiny of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives a priority, saying some programs may unlawfully rely on race. The action against Nike is the most prominent publicly confirmed investigation of DEI efforts to date; the EEOC previously issued a subpoena to Northwestern Mutual in November. Lucas has said that when public materials or other indicators suggest DEI programs may violate federal prohibitions on race-based discrimination, the agency will pursue full investigations, including subpoenas.
This probe is notable because it did not start with a traditional employee charge. In May 2024 Lucas filed a less commonly used commissioner’s charge after America First Legal, a conservative group founded by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller, sent the EEOC a letter urging inquiry into Nike’s practices. America First Legal has lodged similar complaints about other companies’ DEI efforts. The EEOC typically does not disclose charges unless they lead to public enforcement actions, settlements or litigation.
Lucas has also used social media to encourage white men who believe they experienced race- or sex-based workplace discrimination to contact the agency, and she has referenced the EEOC’s fact sheet on DEI-related discrimination. The commissioner’s charge against Nike cites the company’s public diversity commitments, including a 2021 goal to reach 35% racial and ethnic minority representation in its corporate workforce by 2025.
Many companies adopted similar representation goals after the racial justice protests in 2020; corporate leaders say such targets are recruitment and retention objectives rather than quotas and can be pursued by broadening candidate pools and reducing bias. Legal limits remain clear: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act forbids using race as a factor in hiring or other employment decisions. Lucas has warned that some DEI programs risk pressuring managers into race-based decisions that could violate that law.
Nike reiterated that it follows applicable anti-discrimination laws, believes its programs comply with legal obligations, and is taking the matter seriously.