Hasta La Creative!

Months after tapping Colin Kaepernick, who made a name for himself protesting racial injustice, to frontline its marketing campaign, Nike is now facing a lawsuit alleging race discrimination by a former employee. Ahmer Inam, who had worked at the sportswear giant as a senior director of advanced analytics, claims in a suit filed earlier this week U.S. Circuit Court in Multnomah County Oregon that he faced race discrimination during his time as an employee.

During his three years at Nike, Inam, who is from New Delhi, India, alleges he received “disparate treatment based upon his race, color and national origin,” according to the suit, which also claims he was paid less than white peers, denied promotions in favor of a white colleague, and subjected to “hostile and intimidating treatment.” Inam tried to report the issues to Nike CEO Mark Parker last year.

“This case reveals the hypocrisy of Nike’s marketing effort to portray itself as a champion of diversity,” says Dana Sullivan, the Buchanan Angeli Altschul & Sullivan lawyer representing Inam, noting that her client was treated “like a second-class citizen because of his race.” She notes that after Inam raised concerns internally, Parker “left him hanging for months and left him no alternative but to leave the company.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com