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(CN) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asked a St. Louis federal court Wednesday to enforce its subpoena seeking information related to a government investigation into whether Nike’s diversity, equity and inclusion targets discriminate against white employees.
The federal agency is investigating Nike over what it calls “systemic allegations of DEI-related intentional race discrimination,” according to Wednesday’s filing. The commission says the company may have engaged 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.”
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas said in a statement Wednesday there are indications Nike may be violating federal law.
“When there are compelling indications, including corporate admissions in extensive public materials, that an employer’s diversity, equity and inclusion-related programs may violate federal prohibitions against race discrimination or other forms of unlawful discrimination, the EEOC will take all necessary steps — including subpoena enforcement actions — to ensure the opportunity to fully and comprehensively investigate,” Lucas said.
A spokesperson for Nike said in a statement Wednesday emailed to Courthouse News it was surprised by the filing based on its efforts to cooperate with the commission.
“This feels like a surprising and unusual escalation,” the spokesperson said. “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.”
The company said it is committed to “fair and lawful employment practices” and follows all applicable laws, including those that prohibit discrimination.
“We believe our programs and practices are consistent with those obligations and take these matters seriously," Nike said. “We will continue our attempt to cooperate with the EEOC and will respond to the petition.”
The commission officially charged in 2024 that Nike established race-based workforce representation quotas, including setting targets of 30% representation for racial and ethnic minorities at the director level and above domestically and 35% representation for the company’s U.S. corporate workforce.
The charge was based on publicly available information, including Nike’s annual reports, proxy statements and other securities filings, and data posted on its public website.
Between December 2024 and June 2025, the EEOC made three requests to Nike for additional information regarding the investigation, but the federal agency said the company failed to fully comply. Last September, the agency issued a subpoena requiring Nike to produce information relevant to its investigation into potential discrimination against white employees, applicants and training program participants based on race.
After unsuccessfully seeking to revoke the subpoena, Nike provided some, but not all, of the information the EEOC sought. As a result, the commission now asserts that the company failed to fully comply with the subpoena and it seeks an order compelling Nike to do so.
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