On Monday, Nike, disgraced coach Alberto Salazar and distance runner Mary Cain reached a settlement within the $20 million lawsuit filed by Cain, as reported by The Oregonian.
The lawsuit accused Salazar of emotional and bodily abuse in direction of Cain and highlighted Nike’s alleged failure to supply satisfactory oversight throughout her time with Salazar. Cain, who ran for Nike’s Oregon Undertaking from 2012 to 2016, spoke out in 2019 about abuse inside the program, exposing broader cultural points at Nike, together with a reported “boys’ membership” environment.
Salazar, as soon as celebrated for teaching Olympic medallists Mo Farah, Galen Rupp and Matt Centrowitz, confronted a everlasting ban from working with U.S. observe and discipline by U.S. SafeSport for alleged sexual assault and a doping scandal. Nike disbanded the Oregon Undertaking in 2019, and Salazar’s title was faraway from a constructing on the corporate’s campus following the ban.
Cain’s allegations in opposition to Salazar included controlling behaviour, inappropriate feedback about her physique and humiliating practices, which led to despair, an consuming dysfunction and self-harm. Nike was implicated within the lawsuit for allegedly not taking ample motion to guard Cain, a sponsored athlete. Salazar denied the allegations, emphasizing his dedication to athletes’ well-being. Cain filed the $20 million lawsuit in 2021.
Quite a few runners have come out and criticized Nike for its lack of assist for feminine athletes. In 2018, U.S. Olympian Allyson Felix known as out the model for allegedly asking her to take a 70 per cent pay minimize throughout her being pregnant, prompting Felix to go away Nike and be part of the female-powered model Athleta earlier than the Tokyo Olympics.
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The settlement ends considered one of Nike’s highest-profile authorized battles. The phrases of the settlement stay undisclosed.
