In a recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Kelly Cahill et al v. Nike, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Index No. 18-cv-01477, filed August 9, 2018), the plaintiffs (individually and on behalf of others similarly situated) allege gender discrimination under the federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) and related state laws (the Oregon Equal Pay Act and the Oregon Equality Act) against Nike, Inc.
This comes shortly after allegations of sexual harassment were made against the company.
Plaintiffs allege in their class and collective action complaint, inter alia,
For many women at Nike, the company hierarchy is an unclimbable pyramid – the more senior the job title, the smaller the percentage of women. The inequity for women at Nike starts before they do, with decisions about starting pay. … Women’s career trajectories are blunted because they are marginalized and passed over for promotions. Nike judges women more harshly than men, which means lower salaries, smaller bonuses, and fewer stock options. Women’s complaints to human resources about discrimination and harassment, including sexual assault, are ignored or mishandled. Male bad behavior is rarely penalized. For a woman to succeed at Nike, she must far outshine her male counterparts.
The complaint: