Four women who used to work for Nike have filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging it violated state and US equal-pay laws and fostered a work environment that allowed sexual harassment. The suit, filed on Thursday in Portland, is among the first to hit the company following complaints about alleged pay disparities and bad managers made public earlier this year, according to a report from the Oregonian/OregonLive. Nike responded by ousting at least 11 executives in March and April. Last month, the company’s top human-resources executive Monique Matheson acknowledged that Nike had failed to promote enough women. She wrote to staff to say the company wants “to create a culture of true inclusion. As part of our plan, we need to improve representation of women and people of color.” The memo, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, added: “While we’ve spoken about this many times, and tried different ways to achieve change, we have failed to gain traction – and our hiring and promotion decisions are not changing senior-level representation as quickly as we have wanted.” The company acted quickly on Matheson’s admission of the Nike’s gender-equality shortcomings, lapses that came to light just months after chief executive Mark Parker said in a statement in March that said the company had received complaints of inappropriate behavior. “When we discover issues, we take action. We are laser-focused on making Nike a more inclusive culture and accelerating diverse representation within our leadership teams,” Parker wrote. In July, after a review of compensation practices, Nike said it would give competitive pay-adjustments to 10%, or about 7,000 staff out of 74,000 employees around the world. But in the complaint, attorney Laura Salerno Owens says Nike continues to have a “good-old-boy’s culture” in which women enter the company with lower pay, and receive smaller raises and bonuses. “Women came into the company paid less than men, then they are ranked more harshly and, as a result, got smaller raises and bonuses,” she told the Oregonian/OregonLive. The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages, and a court order requiring Nike to pay its employees fairly without regard to gender. Nike declined comment on the lawsuit.
Nike is facing a federal lawsuit filed by four female former employees , who allege that the firm violated state and federal laws relating to equal pay , and created an environment that allowed sexual harassment . The suit , which was filed on 9 August in Portland , follows allegations about poor management and pay disparities which surfaced earlier this year , and which led to the departure of 11 executives from the company . The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and a court order requiring Nike to treat staff fairly regardless of gender .