Courtesy Nike
- The claim was made in a sweeping gender discrimination lawsuit filed in 2018.
- The alleged pay gap had been sealed in court records. It was unsealed after a court challenge.
- Nike has disputed the calculation and said it's achieved pay parity.
Nike employees had an alleged gender pay gap of $11,000 between 2015 and 2019, according to newly unsealed court documents.
The number had been under seal in a sweeping gender discrimination lawsuit, which was filed in 2018 in the wake of reports about a toxic "boys' club" culture at the sportswear giant.
Nike fought to keep the number from public view, claiming it's an erroneous calculation. The company has also repeatedly said it's achieved pay parity.
The alleged pay gap was unsealed on Wednesday after a successful court challenge by Insider, the Oregonian, and the Portland Business Journal. The number appears in a motion for class certification which had been partially redacted because of a protective order.
The news outlets argued for release of the number given the public interest in the lawsuit, which is one of the most high-profile corporate lawsuits filed in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
The alleged pay gap was calculated by an expert witness for plaintiffs who used data provided by Nike during the discovery phase of the lawsuit. The calculation adjusts for numerous variables, such as experience and education.
Plaintiffs allege the calculation shows women on average were paid less "even though women had the same or better performance ratings, educational background, and work experience."
"There is less than a 1 in 1 billion chance that these disparities occurred by random chance," plaintiffs wrote in the motion for class certification.
An attorney for plaintiffs declined comment on the newly unsealed documents. Nike did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the alleged pay gap.
In an April 2022 court filing, an expert witness for Nike criticized the methodology plaintiffs used to determine the alleged pay gap.
"Far from comparing apples-to-apples, this aggregated approach compares apples to oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, and more than 1,200 other types of fruit," the expert witness wrote. "It simply does not make sense."
Since the lawsuit was filed, Nike has taken numerous steps to address its pay and promotion practices, including a round of raises in July 2018. It's also stopped asking employees for information about past salaries.
In its latest corporate-responsibility report, Nike said it has achieved 100% pay parity. In response to previous questions, a company spokesperson directed Insider to the report and noted previous reports also disclose information about pay parity.
The lawsuit awaits a ruling on a motion to make the case a class action. If certified, it would grow from a lawsuit on behalf of 14 named plaintiffs to a lawsuit on behalf of roughly 5,000 current and former Nike employees at the company's Oregon headquarters.
Do you work at Nike or have insight to share? Contact the reporter Matthew Kish via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-971-319-3830) or email (mkish@insider.com). Check out Insider's source guide for other tips on sharing information securely.
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