美国国家公共电台 NPR Nike Sees Executive Departures In Harassment Reckoning

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Nike is going through an executive shakeup over sexism and harassment¹ in the workplace, and now the shoe and athletic² gear company is trying to rebuild. From Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, Erica Morrison has the story.

ERICA MORRISON, BYLINE³: After 14 years working in Nike's IT department, Ann Wallace left the company in January.

ANN WALLACE: That was a really tough decision. I didn't want to leave Nike, necessarily. My whole time at Nike, I mean the majority of it, I loved the company. I loved working there.

MORRISON: But things changed in her department when her boss, who was also a woman, left six years ago. Wallace says her team was no longer protected from misogynistic⁴ behaviors.

WALLACE: Certain individuals within that organization that constantly would berate⁵ women, talk down to women, interrupt.

MORRISON: Shoot down their ideas, make excuses for disrespectful behavior of male counterparts. And there were the scantily⁶ clad women hired as entertainment during out-of-town recruitment events. After many complaints to management and being told she was too sensitive or that it was too hard to fire people, she left. Then in March, something happened Wallace didn't expect. Nike President Trevor Edwards announced he would be retiring from the company in August. The next day, it was announced Vice⁷ President Jayme Martin was leaving. In April, five more senior leaders' departures were announced. Then The New York Times reported more last week, bringing the total to 11. Nike is in the midst of a company-wide overhaul⁸. An informal survey of women at the Oregon headquarters revealed complaints of pay inequity, inappropriate workplace behavior and a lack of career advancement⁹ for women. The survey was delivered to CEO Mark Parker. He's apologized to people who were excluded and called them brave for speaking out.

WALLACE: When I was reading the things that came out about Nike, I was surprised, but at the same time with all the other things that have come out in the last year with the Me Too movement, I'm not surprised, either.

MORRISON: Wallace says she wasn't aware that problems were so widespread.

WALLACE: I think it's been labeled in articles as workplace bullying¹⁰.

MORRISON: It has.

D'WAYNE EDWARDS: Certain pockets of the company where that athlete, that jock kind of mentality¹¹ kind of does exist, and I guess it spills over into some of the corporate¹² processes at times.

MORRISON: D'Wayne Edwards was a designer for the Jordan brand of Nike products. He says the laser focus on the athlete at Nike has made the company what it is today, from the successes to the shakeups happening now.

EDWARDS: Maybe in this instance, it may have, you know, hurt them a little bit by having a bit too much of testosterone.

MORRISON: Edwards is the founder¹³ of the footwear design academy PENSOLE in Portland. He tells his students they should have a full understanding of who they are and what their employer is about before they start their careers. At Nike, he says the culture around athletics¹⁴ and the tendency to hire athletes meant a lot of people didn't understand...

EDWARDS: That this is not the locker¹⁵ room. This is a corporate environment, and there's a different way to act and behave.

LIZ DUNN: Perhaps if this wasn't the environment there, their women's business might be bigger.

MORRISON: Retail¹⁶ analyst¹⁷ Liz Dunn says there's a connection between Nike's in-house problems and the company's retail performance in North America. The company's sales have slowed in the U.S. Adidas and Under Armour¹⁸ are gaining on them.

DUNN: They've struggled with their efforts to market to women, and they've had a lot of talent leave the organization, not just these people who have been dismissed, but also the women who've been leaving because their careers have been stalled.

MORRISON: Ann Wallace can name five other women who left when she did. She works at Google now. She says she has faith Nike will improve.

WALLACE: I still have a lot of woman friends who work there so I do hope for their sake and whoever comes next it does change, but, I think it will.

MORRISON: A Nike spokesperson says the company is determined¹⁹ to build an inclusive workplace culture and has taken the steps to do so.

For NPR News, I'm Erica Morrison in Portland.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 misogynistic   

参考例句：

• And it brings out everything that is most noxious and misogynistic about the right. 而且，这种情绪也流露出右派思想中最为保守有害，歧视女性的那一面。 来自互联网

5 berate   

v.训斥，猛烈责骂

参考例句：

• He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.他担心，由于健忘又要挨她的训斥了。
• She might have taken the opportunity to berate scientists for their closed minds.她也可能会去利用这个机会斥责那些抱成见的科学家。

6 scantily   

adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地

参考例句：

• The bedroom was scantily furnished. 卧室里几乎没有什么家具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His room was scantily furnished. 他的房间陈设简陋。 来自互联网

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

9 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

10 bullying   

v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈

参考例句：

• Many cases of bullying go unreported . 很多恐吓案件都没有人告发。
• All cases of bullying will be severely dealt with. 所有以大欺小的情况都将受到严肃处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

12 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

13 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

14 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

15 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

16 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

17 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

18 armour   

（=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队

参考例句：

• His body was encased in shining armour.他全身披着明晃晃的甲胄。
• Bulletproof cars sheathed in armour.防弹车护有装甲。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。