Nike Is Being Sued for Racial Discrimination by an Ex-Executive
The third lawsuit against the brand’s workplace culture.
Nike is being sued by former data analytics senior director, Amer Inam, for alleged racial discrimination. Inam, an Indian immigrant, accuses the footwear giant of promoting a less-experienced white employee over him. In the lawsuit, Inma details that his work was praised though he was passed up for the promotion. He goes on to claim that he received a salary $75,000 USD below a white co-worker with a similar background and experience.
Inam is suing for $516,000 USD in compensation along with $350,000 USD in non-economic damages and fees. He cites the discrimination as the source of physical and mental ailments including “symptoms of anxiety including but not limited to agitation, depression, lack of hope, psychosomatic anxiety related muscle and joint pains, panic attacks, sleeplessness, nightmares, headaches, nausea, persistent cold, loss of connection with family, and loss of appetite.”
Dana Sullivan of Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan LLP — the firm representing Inam — adds that it is “tremendously discouraging that a company that markets itself as supportive of people of color fails so miserably at addressing race discrimination internally. There’s been so much scrutiny over the last year of Nike’s treatment of women, but there’s an equally distressing story to be told about its treatment of employees of color.”
This serves as the third lawsuit against Nike’s headquarters workplace culture. The first two dealt with alleged sexual assault and gender discrimination. Stay tuned as this story develops.
