NKE Nike Inc

By Sara Germano 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (May 9, 2018).

Nike Inc. said five more executives have left the company amid an internal investigation into complaints about workplace issues at the sportswear giant.

The departures this week include Steve Lesnard, vice president and general manager of global running; Tommy Kain, director of sports marketing; Helen Kim, vice president and general manager of Nike East, North America; Simon Pestridge, global vice president of marketing for performance categories; and Ibrahem Hasan, a senior creative director.

The five Nike veterans didn't respond to requests to comment. The exits bring to 11 the number of executives who are known to have left amid the probe. Of those, Ms. Kim is the first woman.

With their exits, Nike has completed the initial phase of an internal investigation into complaints of inappropriate workplace behavior, according to a person familiar with the matter. The New York Times earlier reported on the exits.

On Tuesday, Nike's human resources chief, Monique Matheson, told staff the company had received more than 43,000 responses to an employee survey, according to a memo reviewed by the Journal. She wrote that the responses were "fueling some very important conversations and changes."

Ms. Matheson, who previously said the company was changing its hiring and promotion processes, said Tuesday that Nike would start requiring managers to have quarterly performance check-ins with employees.

On March 15, Nike Chief Executive Mark Parker wrote a memo to employees saying the company had received complaints and initiated an investigation, and that his second-in-command, Trevor Edwards, would resign his post as Nike brand president immediately. In that memo, Mr. Parker said the company had established a hotline for employees to come forward with any additional complaints, the review of which is still ongoing, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal reported in March that the company started the probe after a group of women within the company circulated a survey about concerns about workplace behavior and gender imbalances in pay and promotion.

The Journal also reported about complaints of a boys-club culture at Nike and flaws in the company's human-resources department.

Last week, in a rare all-hands meeting at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., Mr. Parker apologized to employees for a workplace that excluded some staff and failed to take internal complaints seriously.

Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 09, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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