Former executive sues Adidas, alleging she was fired for reporting gender discrimination

Former executive sues Adidas, alleging she was fired for reporting gender discrimination

Lindsay Gregg, former head of women’s basketball sports marketing at Adidas, whose acquisitions for the sportswear manufacturer included WNBA stars and Olympic champions, sued the company Wednesday, alleging she was fired in February for raising concerns about gender discrimination, inequitable resources and the treatment of female athletes.

Gregg, whose suit was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Ore., says she suffered emotional distress as a result of Adidas’ “unlawful actions” and is seeking compensation for lost wages and to either be reinstated to her position or awarded lost future wages and benefits to be determined at trial. The suit, which also alleges she was fired for being a whistleblower, says she “is entitled to an award of costs and disbursements, expert witness fees and attorney fees.”

“Oregon law protects employees who raise concerns about discrimination and unlawful conduct,” Gregg’s attorney, Maria Witt of Albies & Stark LLC, said in a news release announcing the suit. “Gregg did exactly what the law encourages — she spoke up about inequity and safety. Firing her for doing so is not just wrong, it is unlawful.”

The Athletic has reached out to Adidas for comment, and this story will be updated if the company responds.

According to the suit, Gregg was hired in January 2022 and was responsible for signing professional, collegiate and high school female basketball players to the company brand. (Gregg played basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2007 to 2011 as Lindsay Laur and played professionally in Puerto Rico, Europe and Australia.) Gregg’s job included acting as those athletes’ “agent” in the company, the suit says, as “she advocated for them, promoted them and ensured they had resources to be successful on and off the court.”

The suit says Gregg grew Adidas’ women’s basketball program “exponentially.” According to the suit, Gregg signed Olivia Miles (the No. 2 pick in Monday’s WNBA Draft), Aliyah Boston (the No. 1 pick and WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2023) and others. Additionally, she retained established players, including Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper, both of whom have been MVPs of the WNBA Finals.

Gregg, in her “one-woman department,” managed about twice as many athletes as her male counterparts, the suit says, and she “was vocal about needing more investment and support.”

Witt said Adidas “consistently denied Gregg the resources, staffing and institutional support provided to her male counterparts. Gregg repeatedly raised concerns internally about these disparities, including directly to senior leadership and Human Resources.”

In 2023, Gregg was allowed to hire an employee to work with her, but the suit says, “Gregg did not receive nearly enough resources to adequately staff and support the program.” In January 2026, she met with Adidas’ senior human resources director and “reported her belief that Adidas treated her differently than her male counterparts in sports marketing,” the suit says. To Gregg’s knowledge, the suit says, neither the senior director nor the human resources department took action on Gregg’s complaint.

Gregg’s lawsuit also described the experiences of WNBA players Sophie Cunningham and Erica Wheeler, Adidas athletes who participated as emcees in the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in February.

Adidas provided Cunningham and Wheeler with a trailer to prepare, change clothes and store belongings. At one point, however, when Cunningham and Gregg went to the trailer, an unfamiliar man was leaving, and three other individuals were inside.

Gregg’s lawsuit says the people in the trailer were family members of a former NBA player, and a male Adidas marketing manager falsely told the company’s head of security that Gregg had authorized that player’s use of the trailer.

The Athletic has reached out to Cunningham and Wheeler for comment, and this story will be updated if they respond.

On Feb. 15, Gregg reported the trailer incident to Benjamin Lee, Adidas’ senior human resources director, the suit says. That email was immediately forwarded to Cameron Mason, Adidas’ senior director of basketball sports marketing and Gregg’s supervisor, even though the email — which Gregg thought was confidential — included Gregg’s belief that Mason knew about the NBA player’s presence in the trailer.

On Feb. 22, Gregg filed a complaint with Adidas’ human resources department, the suit says, claiming Mason’s involvement in women’s basketball had been “minimal” and that Gregg had repeatedly pushed, with limited success, “for growth initiatives and resources for female employees and athletes.”

Five days later, the suit says, Mason fired Gregg, calling it a “business decision.”

“For years, I advocated for athletes — for equitable resources and basic respect,” Gregg said in her attorney’s news release. “… These women are exceptional competitors whose skill and professionalism deserve to be met with respect, support, and investment. However, when I spoke up about disparities and conduct that put women in unsafe situations, Adidas chose to fire me instead of addressing those problems.”

— Zach Powell contributed to this story

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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