In a set of court records unsealed on March 18, approximately two dozen Nike officials have now been named publicly with complaints of sexual harassment and misconduct.
The complaints in question came to light in 2018 and resulted in a sexual discrimination lawsuit brought by four employees the same year that alleged a culture of harassment and misconduct. Allegations included violations of both the Federal and Oregon Equal Pay Acts, as well as the Oregon Equality Act. The plaintiffs did not seek monetary damages — rather they sought a change in compensation practices by Nike that would guarantee equal pay for employees of all genders.
Since 2018, the looming lawsuit and allegations have damaged Nike’s public reputation. Though not covered in the actual charges of the suit, descriptions by former employees included unchecked harassment and a “boy’s club” atmosphere that “devalued and demeaned” women.
Despite public statements by Nike and its leadership, including former CEO Mark Parker that repeated Nike’s commitment to equality and a harassment-free workplace, the lawsuit continued, with discussion of a class-action suit. And starting in 2022, Nike also fought to keep names of accused leadership and former leadership from publication in the now-unsealed documents.
Now, weeks before the suit was set for trial, a deal has been reached, although the final text of the settlement has not been drafted yet. While specifics including the amount and nature of the damages are not yet known, the agreement leaves an as-yet-undefined class-action lawsuit on the table.
Around the time of the settlement, Nike released a statement to the Portland Business Journal that addressed the actions undertaken by the company in the wake of the initial reports, before any legal action had been taken.
“In 2018, Nike conducted a large-scale investigation in response to the reports received from employees, including those who responded to an anonymous employee-created survey, and took corrective action where appropriate. Nike has also changed policies and procedures to make it easier for employees to raise concerns. Those changes continue to exist today and have made Nike better. We remain committed to creating a workplace where everyone can thrive, and where we hold ourselves accountable to our values.”
Accused members of Nike staff included Charlie Denson, former Nike president, Don Blair, former chief financial officer and Tinker Hatfield, a top Air Jordan designer reportedly still with the company. In one particular allegation detailed in the documents, former Chief Human Resources Officer David Ayre was called a “well-known harasser.”
The documents covering these complaints were made public after a three-year court battle between Nike and news organizations including the Oregonian/OregonLive, Business Insider and Portland Business Journal, which started in 2022. After a journalist was mistakenly sent unredacted documents, the battle began, with multiple rulings reversals leaving the publicity of information in limbo for years.
The complaints covered by the unsealed documents ranged from relationships with subordinates to unwanted sexual remarks and unspecified “unwanted sexual harassment.” They covered leadership at multiple levels, across different departments.
These complaints had been collected by Nike in 2018 as part of the “Starfish Survey” which was sent out to all U.S.-based employees in the wake of the allegations first being made public. Most of the leadership named in the now-released complaints were based in Nike’s Oregon headquarters.
Sexual harassment, misconduct and violence in the workplace can have severe psychological, professional and even physical effects on victims. From mental health concerns including anxiety, PTSD, depression and stress, to headaches and sleep problems, to the truncation of professional growth or even a victim leaving the company, victims are denied the chance to work safely and productively. Their personal lives and their livelihoods are threatened by behavior that often goes unreported and unpunished.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center reports that 38 percent of women (as well as 17 percent of men, who were not included in the Nike lawsuits) experience sexual harassment of some kind in the workplace. Over 60 percent of women reported some broader misconduct including inappropriate relationships or crude and demeaning comments, which while not unilaterally recognized as harassment by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, can still have negative impacts on those targeted by such behaviors.
Nike’s alleged “culture of misconduct” may not have included sexual violence, but did include behaviors that can interfere with employee productivity, health and wellbeing. In addition, management and Human Resources officers at Nike allegedly discouraged formal complaints or inadequately supported complainees. Protections for the accused can contribute to the underreporting of sexual misconduct at all levels — 70 percent of victims never complain within their companies, and 85 percent do not take a formal complaint to law enforcement or other external resources.
It is also alleged that leadership accused of this misconduct have not universally been dismissed, which contradicts previous statements by Nike that any staff members found to have engaged in misconduct were no longer with the company.
Nike is the largest company in Oregon, employing 11,400 individuals in the state alone and over one million in factories. It has recently come under the leadership of new CEO Elliott Hill, a company insider for more than 30 years who came into the position in 2024 after retiring in 2020. While many observers in business and legal communities hope Hill might turn things around at the company, many more theorize that Nike’s upheaval is only just beginning.
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