Nike Settles Class Action Suit

CHICAGO – Nike has agreed to settle a class action suit brought by 400 African American employees with a $7.6 million payment, although the company denies any wrongdoing.

The suit was started in 2003 by two employees of its Chicago Niketown store who alleged that the company treated African American customers with suspicion. It was broadened to include employees, alleging Nike subjected them to systematic discrimination in all aspects of hiring and employment, creating a hostile workplace. About 400 African Americans employed from late 1999 to the present joined the suit.

The Chicago Niketown store will be monitored by a third-party diversity consultant as a part of the settlement.