Although Nike Inc. denies allegations of race discrimination, the company has reached a $7.6 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by 400 current and former employees of the Chicago Niketown store. The suit, filed in 2003, accused Nike managers of using racial slurs in addressing black customers and employees, accusing black workers of theft, and prohibiting them from advancing professionally.
When it comes to addressing diversity, the settlement forces Nike to “just do it.” The company will appoint a diversity consultant to monitor the Chicago store’s compliance, add an ombudsman at the store, conduct diversity training for all its supervisors and managers, review its human resources practices and theft-loss policies, create equal-opportunity objectives for its store, and institute a formal mentoring program for black employees.
Though Nike’s alleged aberration underlies that racism is indeed alive and well in the workplace, there is certainly a silver lining to this discriminated-against cloud. Even a company like Nike — which has a vice president of diversity and has made diversity a global priority — has room for improvement on the implementation of these ideals.
