A few female former employees have sued American sports brand Nike, claiming they have received lower wages than male colleagues and they have suffered inappropriate behaviour.
Macho culture
Two women have started a class action lawsuit against Nike, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing other complaints of former and current employees (some of whom unnamed) about discrimination toward women and a strong macho culture – even though the brand itself claims to favour diversity.
The women say Nike willingly kept women down in terms of salary, promotions and work circumstances. They want the company to compensate them for salary and benefits they missed, and also for other damages.
Striving for diversity
In a response, Nike says it is strongly against any kind of discrimination and it is on the forefront in the struggle for diversity and inclusion. However, as the company has met regular criticism about how women are treated in its headquarters, Nike has released a statement that it will back these principles even more.
Recently eleven managers were let go after complaints about inappropriate behaviour, and the head of human resources also had to admit women had trouble reaching higher echelons in the company. To compensate for this, 7000 employees’ wages were raised last month.
