Previous contracts gave Nike the right to reduce pay if runners failed to meet performance thresholds for any reason, including pregnancy or childbirth
Alysia Montaño, an Olympian and U.S. national champion, said Nike told her it would pause her contract if she got pregnant. Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images By Khadeeja Safdar May 17, 2019 7:56 p.m. ET Nike Inc. NKE 0.34% said it is adding language to new contracts for female athletes that will protect their pay during pregnancy, after coming under fire for cutting compensation for some athletes.
Although Nike isn’t changing existing contracts, the company said current athletes would receive similar protections. “We will provide appropriate assurances for existing contracts to reinforce our policy,” a Nike spokesman said Friday. Newsletter Sign-up In an op-ed published in the New York Times, Ms. Montaño said that when she told Nike several years ago that she wanted to have a baby during her career, the company told her it would pause her contract and stop paying her. She changed sponsors and signed with Asics.
Ms. Montaño, an Olympian and U.S. national champion, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. After switching sponsors, she famously competed in the 2014 U.S. championships when she was eight months pregnant. After having her daughter, she said in the video that Asics also threatened to end her contract.
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