Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Against Nike Alleges That Male Executives Get “Sloppy Drunk” To Prey On Female Employees

Iesha December 21, 2022 News Leave a comment

According to an unsealed gender discrimination lawsuit against Nike, the company ignored complaints by female employees who claimed executives would get “sloppy drunk” to prey on them.

In their complaint, the female employees claimed that Nike’s Oregon headquarters was a “boys club” where male executives subjected them to sexual advances, suggestive comments about their appearance, and sexual innuendos.

The complaint includes allegations that an executive received oral sex from a female employee in the campus gym.

Another woman at the company reported hearing male coworkers tell her to “dress sexier” and “show some skin.”

Last month, the court unsealed deposition testimony, executive emails, speech crafts, and letters between lawyers in the 2018 lawsuit.

Due to the judge’s denial of class-action status for the lawsuit, there are now only 14 plaintiffs instead of 5,200.

According to the lawsuit, male executives would get “sloppy drunk” and touch female employees on business trips.

Several other women were invited to “work dinners” with high-ranking men who hoped to sleep with them.

The lawsuit claims that several women at the company conducted anonymous surveys seeking information about alleged gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

In one of the surveys, a woman described Nike as a “giant men’s sports team, where favoritism prevails, and females couldn’t possibly play in the sandbox.”

A female employee said that a male Executive told her, “Maybe if you dressed nicer, I would be on time. Take that baggy jacket off and show some skin.”

According to Insider, the women rarely reported these instances to human resources because they didn’t think the department would take them seriously.

One woman commented on the survey that “HR and (employee resources) at this company are a joke.”

“Females at this company have felt very little power to change a culture and environment that has been and continues to be disrespectful to women,” said another female employee.

“Kept it to myself because of who he is at the company,” wrote the woman who was told to “show some skin.”

The surveys started to be distributed in 2018 due to some female employees being dissatisfied with how the business handled prior concerns.

Only 10 of the many collected surveys made it into the court records. The judge denied Nike’s request to keep the details of the surveys confidential.

The surveys were delivered to Mark Parker, the current executive chairman of Nike, in March 2018.

Parker announced a management shakeup a few days after getting the surveys. He also sent an email of apology to Nike employees.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve become aware of reports occurring within our organization that do not reflect our core values of inclusivity, respect, and empowerment,” Parker wrote.

At least 11 executives quit the company after Parker received the surveys. Additionally, Nike attempted to increase the number of women in its managerial ranks.

There are now 43% more women vice presidents of the company than there were in 2018.