Nike Worker Says She Was Fired the Day She Returned From 3-Month Medical Leave After Complaining of Discrimination

Jordan Meah Lindsey, a former Nike distribution centre manager in Memphis, says she was fired on 10 December 2025, the day she returned from nearly three months of approved medical leave. She had filed a formal sex discrimination complaint with HR the day before that leave began.

In a lawsuit filed against Nike Retail Services on 2 October 2026 in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Lindsey says her supervisor cited 'communication and collaboration issues with the team, leadership presence and engagement, and overall professional conduct.'

The complaint says those reasons repeated concerns from a performance plan she had already passed and involved the team she had reported to HR.

Lindsey, hired in August 2024 on $87,165 (£66,000) a year, is suing for retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Tennessee Human Rights Act, and for retaliation and interference under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Complaints Began in December 2024

In late December 2024, she reported her manager for race and sex discrimination, the complaint says. Nike then tried to put her on a performance plan, which she called retaliation.

After she moved departments, a new supervisor who had never worked with her said she would still need a plan. Issued on 9 April 2025, the 90-day plan covered 'teamwork and communication, establishing trust with peers and team members, performance management, and modeling the behaviors of a leader.' She completed it successfully.

She later told her supervisor she was excluded from meetings and mandatory duties and that her staff were directed without her input. She was told to raise it with her peers.

On 25 July 2025, an operations manager reported her conversation about a garden volunteer project to People Solutions, Nike's HR department. The complaint says the report 'misrepresented Plaintiff's words and intentions,' and she was not told about it for almost two months.

A Discrimination Complaint the Day Before Her Leave

On 10 September 2025, she was allegedly left out of a mandatory leadership walk, and a co-worker walked away from her mid-sentence in front of staff.

On 12 September, her last working day, a work ticket she had requested was cancelled without her input, and she submitted a written response to the July report. Her supervisor also asked if she wanted to leave the leadership group chats. She declined, saying she planned to return.

By 16 September, she had been removed from three of them, though other managers on leave had not been. That day, she filed a written sex discrimination complaint with People Solutions, saying she was the only woman leader in her department and was treated differently from male peers.

Her leave began on 17 September, approved through 9 December by Sedgwick, Nike's third-party leave administrator.

What She Is Seeking

The FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in 12 months for serious health conditions and bars retaliation, according to the US Department of Labor.

She filed a retaliation charge with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on 8 February 2026 and received a right-to-sue notice on 14 July. She seeks back pay, lost benefits, reinstatement or front pay, and compensatory, punitive, and liquidated damages.

She is demanding a jury trial and has asked to proceed without paying court fees, the docket shows. The case is before US District Judge Brian C. Lea.

Nike Faces Other Discrimination Cases

In a separate lawsuit filed in the same court on 8 August 2026, a former area manager at Nike's Memphis site alleged she was passed over for promotion in favour of 'a less qualified and less experienced male' and later fired after complaining. She brought claims under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The parties filed a stipulation dismissing the case on 1 October 2026.

On 22 July 2026, a federal jury in Oregon found Nike paid former process engineer Heather Hender less than male colleagues and promoted her more slowly partly because of her gender. The jury awarded Hender $19,739.52 (£14,900) and returned two punitive-damages awards of $7.5M (£5.7M) each, bringing the jury's total award to more than $15M (£11.3M). The final amount may be reduced, including because federal law caps punitive damages available under Title VII.

Hender was the last remaining plaintiff from a 2018 lawsuit brought by four women. A magistrate judge recommended denying class certification in November 2022, and the district court formally denied it in March 2023.