Nike Pays $7.6M in Class-Action Race-Discrimination Suit
After four years of denying allegations of racist behavior at one of its store locations, Nike, the popular athletic sportswear and equipment company, has reached a $7.6-million settlement in a class-action race-discrimination lawsuit filed by 400 black employees from their Chicago Niketown store. The lawsuit, filed in 2003, claimed managers at the store used racial slurs when referring to black workers and customers. Employees also said the store purposely placed black employees in lower-paying positions such as stockroom workers and cashiers rather than hiring them for higher-paying positions. Other claims included managers accusing black workers of theft and often requesting store security to monitor black employees and customers because of their race. In addition to the settlement, Nike has been ordered to address diversity by appointing a diversity consultant to monitor the Chicago store's compliance and a compliance officer at Nike's headquarters in Oregon, tells The Chicago Suntimes.
For more information on avoiding discrimination lawsuits, read DiversityInc's Special Issue Fall 2006.
Immigrants Face Increase in Citizenship Fees
Immigration reform may be at a standstill, but the cost of becoming a U.S. citizen is rising dramatically. Yesterday, the Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the increases are part of an effort to modernize a process that remains difficult and expensive to navigate, according to immigrant advocates. As a result of the increase, the average fee for all petitions and applications rose 66 percent. The cost of becoming a U.S. citizen rose to $675 from $400. The cost of a green-card application jumped from $325 to $930. To apply for citizenship, the cost went from $330 to $595. Read more.
Coming soon: DiversityInc's September 2007 issue on immigration.
UPS to Offer Civil-Union Benefits
Ten days after New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine filed a letter urging a local United Parcel Service (UPS) to comply with the state's civil-union law that states same-sex couples must be given equal rights, the mail-distributing company agreed to offer health benefits to its employees' partners in civil unions. The civil-union-policy decision was a switch for the company, which had said it could not offer such benefits because employees were not legally married. The change will affect an undetermined number of UPS's 8,700 employees who also happen to be union workers. Read more.
For more on domestic-partner benefits, read "Domestic-Partner Benefits: The Top 50 Litmus Test" in the June 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine.
Philadelphia Marketing to LGBT Tourists
Four years ago, Philadelphia launched a national ad campaign aimed solely at lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) tourists. The campaign ads featured same-sex couples. Now the city is stepping up its efforts to appeal to this core audience, worth an annual $55 billion. As a tourist market, Jeff Guaracino of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp. says marketers will have to do more to engage the LGBT community with a variety of travel destinations, reports The Houston Chronicle.
People of Color Top National Transplant Waiting Lists
A staggering 100,000 people have yet to hear whether they are eligible for a donor transplant, and people of color make up 51 percent of those waiting for a transplant, according to U.S. transplant waiting lists. At the top of the list of people in need of organ transplants are blacks, Latinos, Asians and Native Americans. Blacks account for 27 percent of people on the waiting list and 35 percent of those waiting for kidneys. Researchers say the high percentage is in part because people of color have higher rates of diabetes and hypertension, conditions that warrant the need for a transplant. Read more.
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