A federal equal opportunity agency has filed a subpoena enforcement action against Nike as it seeks a court order to force the company to turn over documents related to allegations it “discriminated against white workers.”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a motion to enforce its existing subpoena against Nike in a federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri Wednesday. The motion comes as part of the agency’s investigation into the athletic apparel company’s employment practices. The EEOC says the investigation is looking at Nike’s possible violation of race-based employment discrimination clauses in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
In the court filing, the EEOC general counsel wrote the agency’s current chairwoman, Andrea R. Lucas, alleges Nike may have violated the law “by engaging in a pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white employees, applicants, and training program participants in hiring, promotion, demotion, or separation decisions (including selection for layoffs); internship programs; and mentoring, leadership development, and other career development programs.”
Lucas further charged that Nike allegedly established racial quotas and said the EEOC based the charge allegations on publicly available Nike policies, statements, and reports.
The subpoena enforcement action filing comes after Nike did not adequately respond to one of the EEOC’s three subpoenas issued during the investigation between December 2024 and June 2025, according to the Trump administration agency’s court filing.
“As of the date of the filing of this Application, Respondent NIKE has failed to fully comply with the EEOC’s Subpoena No. SL-25-08, as modified,” the court filing reads. “Respondent NIKE’s failure to comply with the subpoena has delayed and hampered the EEOC’s investigation of alleged unlawful employment practices under Title VI.”
Nike said it was in the process of sharing more information with the EEOC and called the agency’s move “a surprising and unusual escalation,” in a statement shared with multiple outlets.
“We have had extensive, good-faith participation in an EEOC inquiry into our personnel practices, programs, and decisions and have had ongoing efforts to provide information and engage constructively with the agency. We have shared thousands of pages of information and detailed written responses to the EEOC’s inquiry and are in the process of providing additional information,” Nike said in the statement.
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The case was assigned to Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Cristian Stevens.
With a subpoena enforcement action, if the court rules in favor of the plaintiff, the defendant must comply with the court order and deliver the subpoenaed materials or they could get hit with monetary fines, contempt, or possible prison time.
