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.

Updates:

• In December 2022, the district court made public over 5,000 pages of records, but it redacted the names of Nike employees accused of misconduct. As Business Insider reported, the unsealed court records provided “the most detailed look yet” at the allegations against Nike.
• After the district court denied class certification in the case, Reporters Committee attorneys sought to unseal the remaining redacted documents on behalf of the media coalition, arguing that the public has a common law right of access to the records that the court used to make its determination.
• In October 2023, a U.S. magistrate judge sided with the news outlets, finding that records were related to the case’s merits and the public’s strong interest in the filings outweighed the privacy interests Nike wanted the court to protect. A U.S. district judge later adopted the magistrate judge’s conclusions and recommendations.
• After Nike appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a three-judge panel upheld the district court’s ruling, lifting the redactions and shedding more light on the discrimination allegations. As The Oregonian/OregonLive reported, the unredacted documents allege misconduct by high-ranking employees, some of whom have since left the company and some of whom remain.

Related: In April 2025, Reporters Committee attorneys began representing The Oregonian/OregonLive in an appeal challenging a separate Ninth Circuit ruling that would allow a district court to issue an unconstitutional prior restraint against the news outlet.

Filings:

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

2022-09-30: Findings and recommendation

2023-10-11: Findings and recommendation

2024-01-05: Order

2025-03-18: Memorandum opinion