Bad times at Niketown

[wrigley]

Niketown accused of bias
Blacks allegedly put in lesser jobs

By Ameet Sachdev
Tribune staff reporter
Published August 24, 2004

The Niketown store on Chicago's Magnificent Mile discriminated against African-American employees by segregating them into stockroom jobs and denying them promotions to higher-paying sales positions, says an amended federal lawsuit filed Monday.

The Michigan Avenue store owned by Nike Inc., one of the world's largest athletic footwear-makers, employed 63 stockroom workers between January 2001 and May 2003, the suit said. Of those, 46 were African-Americans and three were Caucasian. The starting hourly wage was less than $8 an hour, the suit said.

During that same time period, eight of the 33 commissioned sales specialists were African-American and 23 were Caucasian. Sales specialists often earned three to four times as much as a stockroom employee, the suit said.

Lawyers for the 15 plaintiffs, who are current and former Niketown employees, are seeking class-action status for their claims, covering up to 200 people.

The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount of damages, including lost wages and benefits. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Officials at Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., did not return phone calls.

The plaintiffs also contend that although many worked 40 hours a week, they were not considered full-time employees and, therefore, were denied such benefits as paid vacation and health and dental insurance.

In addition, the plaintiffs claimed that they were subject to a racially hostile work environment. Among the allegations: African-American workers were accused repeatedly of theft, and when leaving the store their belongings were searched, while Caucasian employees were not subject to the same working conditions.

Work rules concerning attendance, sick leave and employee discounts also were unequally applied, the suit said.

The lawsuit also includes allegations that African-American customers were followed around the store.

Despite complaints of harassment to numerous managers, Nike failed to respond, the suit said.

The original complaint was filed in December by two former employees who tried to represent themselves. A district court judge later assigned the case to Noelle Brennan, a former attorney with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission now in private practice.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune

I hope the former employees win their lawsuit and receive huge settlement.

Shame on Niketown