Nike investigated over allegations of discrimination against white employees
The EEOC is investigating Nike over allegations of discrimination against white employees and cracking down on its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Two employees at a Smoothie King store in Ann Arbor, Michigan, have “no longer worked” after a couple claimed they were refused service because the husband was wearing clothing with President Donald Trump’s name on it.
In the viral X video, which has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times as of March 3, a woman said her husband was refused service because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with Trump’s name on it, leading to actions by Smoothie King and personnel changes.
A video of the couple’s interaction with a Smoothie King employee appears to have been originally posted to TikTok, but has since been deleted. But the clip was posted to X and shared by an account called Leftism, which says its purpose is “to expose the left,” and an account called Meme’nOnLibs, whose mission is “to mock liberals enough to end the woke movement.” “She refused service at @SmoothieKing because her husband was wearing a Trump hoodie,” the leftist said in a post on Monday. “She posted a GoFundMe in which she bragged about denying service to Trump supporters, claiming that she was filmed without permission, that she is underage, and that she received a lot of hateful comments.”
The post also called on GoFundMe to “take appropriate action and not allow her to raise money by discriminating against others.” The GoFundMe page was later deactivated, as reported by the Detroit News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Before it was disabled, the GoFundMe account said the employee “denied service to Trump supporters, who recorded me as a minor without my permission. After posting the video, I received hundreds of hateful comments and threats, making it impossible for me to return to work safely.”
The X account also posted a video that appeared to be taken of an employee talking to a customer, saying, “We don’t stand for it. Our company has nothing to do with it. Like we’re not really comfortable with that,” before adding, “We have the right to refuse service.” The employee’s original video uploaded to TikTok has hundreds of thousands of likes as of March 3.
Smoothie King says employees are ‘no longer’ with the company
The Texas-based smoothie company has since confirmed in a series of social media posts that it has moved to sever ties with its employees.
“Following an investigation into an incident yesterday involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan, the franchise owner took immediate action and the two employees involved have now left the company,” the company said in a statement.
The company added that Smoothie King corporate officials and franchise owners have apologized multiple times to guests. The franchise owner is also “taking further steps and implementing mandatory retraining for all employees outlining guest experience standards,” the post said.
Smoothie King added in a statement to USA TODAY that it is “committed to ensuring our stores are places free of discrimination of any kind and where all guests and team members are treated with kindness and respect.”
“We value everyone who wants to live a healthy and active lifestyle, regardless of race, gender, religion or political affiliation,” the statement said.
Contributed by Max Reinhart and Charles E. Ramirez, Detroit News
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
