American and Oregonian flags fly above the Nike Headquarters near Beaverton, Ore., June 30, 2025. Nike’s Washington County campus is considered to be the company’s global headquarters, containing over 75 buildings on more than 286 acres.
Morgan Barnaby / OPB
A jury is in place for a trial eight years in the making over gender discrimination at Nike headquarters near Beaverton.
During the week-long trial, the jury of seven men and one woman is expected to weigh whether Nike paid a former employee less and limited her promotional opportunities because of her gender.
The jury was selected Monday, and opening statements are scheduled to start on Tuesday morning at the federal courthouse in downtown Portland.
While the bigger question at the heart of this case is how one of Oregon’s most globally recognized companies treats women at its headquarters, this week’s trial is narrowly focused on the experience of one woman who worked at Nike as a process engineer.
In 2018, Heather Hender filed a lawsuit claiming she was paid less than male colleagues who performed the same job. She further claims she was passed over for promotion due to her gender.
Attorneys for Nike have consistently denied Hender’s claims. They argue that reasons other than gender led to Hender’s pay gap with her male coworkers.
The original lawsuit was filed by Hender and three other women and included multiple other claims against Nike. Three of the original plaintiffs settled those claims last year. Hender settled some of her claims, but not the pay and promotion discrimination case. The settlement terms that Hender and the other three women agreed to have not been disclosed.
Lawyers for the women originally hoped to expand the case to a class action lawsuit covering hundreds of female employees or former workers at Nike. In 2022, a judge denied the request to turn the case into a class action suit.
That was 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 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. During the appeals process, lawyers will be able to revive the previously failed effort to turn the case into a class action potentially representing hundreds of women.
On Monday morning, a pool of just over 40 potential jurors filed into the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Amy Baggio, marking the beginning of the trial.
As part of jury selection, Judge Baggio followed up with potential jurors on answers they’d given on questionnaires. Her questions mostly centered around previous experience serving on a jury or with workplace discrimination cases.
Potential jurors who said they knew someone who previously or currently worked at Nike were asked if they could be impartial. The same question was posed to those who had applied for or interviewed for jobs at the apparel company. Despite those connections, all told Judge Baggio they could serve on the jury without bias.
The judge also asked potential jurors if they had heard anything about the case before showing up to court Monday. Three indicated that they had seen or heard news stories related to the trial.
One mentioned they heard that a few other women who had originally brought the case had settled – a point that attorneys will not be able to reference during this trial. The legal teams have been ordered to stick to the pay and promotion discrimination claim brought by Hender only.
In a moment of levity, the judge exclaimed to one potential juror, “You’re a comedian!”
The juror confirmed being a comedy performer and invited the entire courtroom to a standup show, drawing laughter in the normally austere federal chamber.
However, the comedian was dismissed from jury duty due, in part, to close connections to people with Nike work histories.
By mid-afternoon Monday, attorneys from both sides and Baggio had agreed on eight jurors for the trial.
When opening statements begin Tuesday, lawyers for Hender are expected to cast Nike as a workplace environment that’s hostile towards women. They’ll try to convince the jury that Hender was passed over for pay raises and promotions because of her gender, despite being just as qualified as her male colleagues.
Nike’s lawyers plan to emphasize to the jury that this particular case is only about Hender, according to their trial memo. They’re likely to continue to argue that Hender’s pay was appropriate, based on her experience and qualifications.
Judge Baggio told the jury she hopes to have them in deliberations by Friday, with the case wrapping up early next week.
