Nike Inc. to Pay $1.5 Million to Settle Free-Speech Case
Athletic giant Nike Inc. has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a case that challenged the boundaries between commercial speech and free speech.
According to a company statement, Nike “agreed that investments designed to strengthen workplace monitoring and factory worker programs are more desirable than prolonged litigation.”
Nike’s decision to settle the case comes after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23 declined to make a decision on the case, which left the case vulnerable to a California law that allows consumers to sue companies over false allegations about unfair business practices.
In the same statement, the Beaverton, Ore.–based apparel-and-footwear company said it would give the money to the Fair Labor Association, formerly the White House Task Force on Apparel Industry Partnership, in Washington, D.C. Nike said the money would be earmarked for global factory monitoring and worker development programs. The company also plans to spend a minimum of $500,000 during the next two years on its after-hours worker education programs in footwear facilities and its microloan programs.
“Nike has learned a lot over the past five years about how to develop and implement a corporate responsibility program,” said Nike spokeswoman Caitlin Morris. “As our approach to stakeholder engagement has become more sophisticated, so has our approach to addressing these issues and incorporating corporate responsibilities into our business model.”
In April 1998, San Francisco activist Marc Kasky filed a lawsuit against Nike for false advertising under California consumer protection laws, alleging that a Nike campaign misled consumers and potential customers about working conditions at the company’s factories in Asia. —Claudia Figueroa
