Top Nike Executive Resigns Among Misconduct Allegations

Ranking Nike executive Trevor Edwards will step aside from his post as brand president after allegations of workplace misconduct surfaced on Thursday.

The company sent an internal memo addressing the complaints the same day.

In part, it reads:

Team,

Over the past few weeks, we’ve become aware of reports of behavior occurring within our organization that do not reflect our core values of inclusivity, respect, and empowerment at a time when we are accelerating our transition to the next stage of growth and advancing our culture. This disturbs and saddens me…Further I want to share with you that in light of my desire to accelerate change, I’ve made the decision to restructure my leadership team into a different alignment that will allow for closer management and a sharper focus on our culture . . . I also want to communicate that I am committed to serve as Chairman, President, and CEO for Nike beyond 2020. Trevor Edwards has decided to resign as Nike Brand President and will retire in August. He will serve as an advisor to me until his retirement as we transition the organization. I’d like to thank [Edwards] for his significant contributions to Nike over the last 25 years. He has helped us grow and strengthen our brand on a global scale.

It’s not immediately clear exactly what Edwards has been accused of but it seems like Nike is trying to deal with the issue as swiftly and professionally as possible in order to avoid further public scrutiny.

This complicates things for Nike. The sporting goods company is actively pursuing new leadership, and many considered Edwards to be a front runner for next CEO. And to make matters even more complicated, Nike has been grappling with a pretty terrible deterioration in sales for several quarters now as competitors like Adidas enjoy more popularity.

As of now, Nike CEO Mark Parker will stay in his role and the president of Nike Geographies, Elliott Hill, will take over Edwards’ position as brand president. It’s worth noting that while a Nike spokesperson says Edwards’ “conduct [was] inconsistent with Nike’s core values and against our code of conduct,” there have been no direct allegations made against the former president.

More details to this story will likely emerge in the coming days.

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