In a subpoena filed in the Missouri federal court, the EEOC is demanding the athletic brand’s full compliance and is requesting to see Nike’s criteria for employee layoffs, diversity efforts, and how it tracks workers’ race and ethnicity data. The agency led by Andrea R. Lucas claims it has been trying to gather this information since 2018
However, Nike says the recent subpoena “feels like a surprising and unusual escalation.”
“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,” a company representative added per the Wall Street Journal.
Nike is the latest target in the Trump administration’s anti-DEI push. Last year, Lucas, the EEOC’s Trump-appointed chair, launched an investigation into the diversity, equity, and inclusion practices of 20 major law firms. And in December 2025, Lucas posted a PSA on X, encouraging white males who have “experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex” to file claims “to recover money under federal civil rights laws.”
“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 actions — to ensure the opportunity to fully and comprehensively investigate,” the EEOC chair said in a statement.
Now, the EEOC’s focus on Nike reportedly stems from “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.” Though the agency’s investigation was not sparked by an employee claim, the EEOC is citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits race-based discrimination, as it investigates Nike’s “systemic allegations of DEI-related intentional race discrimination”
However, Nike, which has made widespread pushes for diversity and inclusion through initiatives and financial pledges to support organizations focused on social justice and racial inequality in the U.S., believes its programs and practices comply with “all applicable laws, including those that prohibit discrimination.”
