The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has launched an investigation into Nike over allegations that the sports giant discriminated against white employees and job applicants.

The federal agency is demanding that Nike turn over information related to the allegations, including the company’s “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion-related 2025 Targets and other DEI-related objectives”, it announced on Wednesday.

Nike, which described the escalation as “surprising and unusual”, insisted that it adheres to “all applicable laws” on discrimination. It comes amid a broader crackdown by Donald Trump’s administration on diversity initiatives, which he has repeatedly decried as “radical”.

“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,” said EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas.

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. The federal agency has the authority to investigate charges against employers who are covered by the law.

Lucas, a Republican, was appointed as acting head of the EEOC by the US president in 2025. Her predecessor during the Biden administration, Charlotte Burrows, was fired shortly after Trump’s return to office last year.

“Title VII’s prohibition of race-based employment discrimination is colorblind and requires the EEOC to protect employees of all races from unlawful employment practices,” Lucas said. “Thanks to President Trump’s commitment to enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws, the EEOC has renewed its focus on evenhanded enforcement of Title VII.”

On his first day in office, Trump signed an order directing federal agencies to terminate all “equity-related” grants or contracts. He also signed a follow-up order requiring federal contractors to certify that they don’t promote DEI. The administration has also targeted universities, urging them to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal funding.

The information that the EEOC is seeking dates back to 2018, and includes criteria used to select employees for layoffs, information related to the company’s tracking, use of worker race and ethnicity data, and information about “16 programs which allegedly provided race-restricted mentoring, leadership, or career development opportunities”.

Lucas has targeted programs related to diversity and gender since being appointed by Trump in 2025, in alignment with the administration’s agenda. In a recent interview with the New York Times, she said that her goal was to undo the consequences of an “aggressive focus by D.E.I. activists” under the Biden administration.

In a statement, a Nike spokesperson said: “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.”

Nike is a “proud American company”, the spokesperson added. “We are committed to fair and lawful employment practices and follow all applicable laws, including those that prohibit discrimination. We believe our programs and practices are consistent with those obligations and take these matters seriously. We will continue our attempt to cooperate with the EEOC and will respond to the petition.”