A federal trial nearly eight years in the making that centers around Nike’s treatment of female employees at the company’s headquarters near Beaverton is scheduled to start Monday in Portland.

At issue during the week-long trial is whether Nike paid a former employee less and limited her promotional opportunities because of her gender.

The lawsuit started when four women sued Nike claiming unequal pay. They also said the athletic apparel company set higher standards for women seeking promotions than for men, especially at its Washington County headquarters.

“Male bad behavior is rarely penalized,” the plaintiffs allege in the lawsuit. “For a woman to succeed at Nike, she must far outshine her male counterparts.”

In 2018, Heather Hender, who worked at the company as a process engineer, filed a lawsuit claiming she was paid less than male colleagues who performed the same job. Hender argues in the lawsuit that the policies related to salaries disproportionately favored men.

Nike has continually denied that widespread policies targeted women and argues that reasons other than gender led to Hender’s pay gap with her coworkers.

“Put simply, what Ms. Hender seeks to show about Nike and its purported culture is not true. But even so, none of that is on trial,” Nike’s lawyers wrote in their trial memo. “The issue here is whether Ms. Hender was paid less than male peers for substantially equal or comparable work, and whether Ms. Hender was not promoted because of her gender.”

The company’s lawyers say they will show that Hender’s claims are false, as are her accusations about Nike’s culture.

A jury is scheduled to spend around four days listening to evidence in the case, and U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio has signaled that deliberation could start as early as July 17. Hender is the sole remaining plaintiff; three others settled with Nike last year.

At first, the lawyers for the women sought to make it a class action lawsuit. A judge denied the class action in 2022, before Nike submitted some documents and evidence — most of which won’t be allowed to be presented in this case — related to allegations against male employees at the company.

Whatever the jury decides in the upcoming trial will likely be challenged and sent to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. During the appeals process, the women suing their former employer — not just Hender — will be able to renew a previously failed effort to turn the case into a class action potentially representing hundreds of women.

Nike’s lawyers argued the narrative from Hender about the company’s culture is false.

“Nike is a company that cares about its employees,” lawyers wrote in their trial memo. “For years, Nike has prioritized equal opportunity in its workplace, striving to create an environment where everyone is seen, heard, and included. Nike continually evaluates and evolves its hiring, pay, and promotions programs in light of these guiding principles.”

Hender worked at Nike from 2015 to 2020. Hender, who has a background in technical and electrical engineering, started at Nike as a process engineer. She was promoted to senior process engineer in late 2018.

Hender argues in the complaint that she both witnessed hostility towards women and experienced it herself.

Nike’s lawyers plan to remind the jury that this particular case is only about Hender, according to their trial memo. The company’s lawyers plan to argue the male co-workers Hender uses as examples had “different experience and qualifications, performed different jobs, had different managers, performed at a different level, and/or made different or more significant contributions.”

Opening statements are set to begin Monday, July 13, after jury selection.

Conrad Wilson contributed to this story.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/10/nike-gender-discrimination-trial-begins-portland/