EEOC files subpoena request against Nike for its DEI practices

On Feb. 4, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a subpoena request to obtain records from Nike about its DEI programming, a move the company called an “unusual escalation.”

What’s happening? The EEOC filed the request in the Eastern District of Missouri Court, and claims that white workers could have been discriminated against as a result of Nike’s DEI initiatives. Among the documents the EEOC is requesting are criteria considered before layoffs, how the company used race and ethnicity data, and “information about 16 programs” related to mentoring, leadership, and career development.

According to the EEOC, Nike allegedly has not fully complied with their previous requests for documents, but Nike claims otherwise.

“This feels like a surprising and unusual escalation,” Nike told HR Brew in an emailed statement. “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.”

EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas had also filed a complaint against Nike in May 2024, nearly a year before she became chair, based on the company’s workplace representation goals, NPR reported.

“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 in a press release.

Nike added that the company is committed to “fair and lawful employment practices and follow all applicable laws.”

Part of the anti-DEI strategy. This is the latest instance of federal agencies investigating a company over its DEI practices, dating back to President Trump’s first days back in office.

On Jan 30, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning to roughly 40 law firms that participated in a diversity certification program, according to Bloomberg Law. The FTC claimed that the certifications could indicate “anticompetitive collusion,” a move that Stephen Calkins, a law professor at Wayne State University, told the publication is “untested legal territory.”

In late 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that it was investigating DEI practices at Verizon and Google under the False Claims Act, which covers billing fraud by government contractors, the Wall Street Journal reported. Lawyers familiar with the law claim that targeting companies over DEI would be “unusual,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier in 2025, both Verizon and AT&T issued letters to the Federal Communications Commission, promising to end their DEI practices.

The Trump administration has pursued a range of actions targeting DEI initiatives since Jan 2025, including executive orders, EEOC memorandums, and guidance from the DOJ. In response, dozens of companies across various sectors including technology, finance, and retail, have quietly rolled back DEI programs, HR Brew reported previously. Others, including Nike, remain committed to DEI, often quietly.

“They’re [companies] not being as public about their efforts, but a lot of those organizations that do really care about the work,” DEI practioner Rosa Nuñez told HR Brew in 2025. “They’re doing it in-house in a way that is not distracting.”