Cahill v. Nike

Case Number: 3:18-cv-01477-JR

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Portland Division

Clients: Business Insider, Oregonian Media Group, Portland Business Journal

Motion to Intervene and Unseal Filed: April 8, 2022

Background: In 2018, after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Nike had a “boys-club” culture, female employees filed a lawsuit against the company alleging gender discrimination. As part of the litigation, a federal district court in Oregon entered a protective order that allowed the parties to more quickly exchange sensitive documents without making them available to the public.

While Nike eventually lifted the seal on some records, hundreds of court filings in the matter remain secret — even as a judge prepares to make an important decision about whether to make the case a class-action suit involving roughly 5,000 female Nike employees.

On behalf of Business Insider, Oregonian Media Group, and the Portland Business Journal, Reporters Committee Local Legal Initiative Attorney Ellen Osoinach filed a motion to intervene and unseal records that have yet to be made public, arguing that the news outlets have a presumptive First Amendment and common law right of access to court proceedings and judicial records in the high-profile case.

Quote: “As newspaper publishers, Media Intervenors have a compelling interest in public access to information on pending judicial proceedings regarding the application of Oregon’s Equality Act and the Federal and Oregon Equal Pay Act to one of the most well-known multinational corporations in the world,” Osoinach wrote in the motion filed on April 8, 2022.

Filings:

2022-04-08: Motion to intervene and unseal judicial records

2022-09-30: Findings and recommendation