The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a motion to dismiss its subpoena enforcement action against Nike in Missouri federal court on Wednesday, seven months after asking the court to order the sportswear company to comply fully with demands for documents related to an investigation into its diversity and inclusion policies.
EEOC drops subpoena enforcement action against Nike after company provides documents in diversity-policy probe
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a motion to dismiss its subpoena enforcement action against Nike in Missouri federal court on Wednesday, seven months after asking the court to order the sportswear company to comply fully with demands for documents related to an investigation into its diversity and inclusion policies.
In its court filing, the EEOC said Nike had provided 'information and documents responsive to the subpoena' between March and August, leaving 'no remaining controversy' for the court to resolve. An EEOC spokesperson said the agency is 'pleased the company complied without a court order after the filing of our subpoena enforcement action' but declined to provide further details. Nike declined to comment.
The investigation did not stem from a worker complaint. EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas filed the underlying charge herself in May 2024, alleging Nike was discriminating against white employees. Her charge cited Nike's publicly shared information about mentorship programs designed to foster diversity, data showing it had increased minority representation in leadership, and the company's publicly stated goal of achieving 35% representation of racial and ethnic minorities in its corporate workforce by 2025.
The EEOC had sought data on Nike's employment decisions dating back years, including its criteria for selecting employees for layoffs, how it tracks and uses worker race and ethnicity data, and information about programs that allegedly provided race-restricted mentoring, leadership, or career development opportunities, according to court documents.
The subpoena enforcement action offered an unusually public window into an EEOC investigation, a process that normally remains confidential unless it results in fines, settlements, legal action, or other public actions.
Nike is among the companies targeted by Lucas's broader campaign against corporate diversity and inclusion policies, which the Trump administration has characterized as discriminating against white men and others. In December, Lucas posted a social media call urging white men to file complaints if they had experienced discrimination based on race or sex. The EEOC has also filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, alleging the news organization discriminated against a white editor who was rejected for a role that went to a multiracial woman.
Whether Nike provided all of the information the EEOC had demanded was unclear. In February, Nike described the court action as a 'surprising and unusual escalation,' saying it had handed over thousands of pages of information and was in the process of sharing more.
- Whether Nike provided all of the information the EEOC originally demanded, or only a portion of it, is not established.
- The current status of the underlying discrimination investigation — whether it remains open, has been resolved, or will result in further action — is not stated.
- No details about what specific documents or data Nike ultimately produced are provided.
- The basis on which the EEOC determined that Nike's partial or full production was sufficient to close the enforcement action is not explained.
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