Adidas is facing a legal challenge from April Burton, a former employee, who has filed a lawsuit against the German sportswear giant. Burton, who worked on the now-defunct Ivy Park collaboration with Beyoncé, alleges she was unlawfully terminated after reporting racist and sexist comments made by senior company officials.
In court filings, Burton claims that a senior colleague at Adidas referred to her as “ape,” a nickname she found offensive and demeaning. Despite raising the issue with the company’s human resources department in April 2022, she asserts that no meaningful action was taken to resolve the matter. According to Burton, HR suggested the nickname was an “affectionate shortening” of her name and discouraged her from pursuing a formal complaint.
The lawsuit also includes allegations of inappropriate comments made by Roland Auschel, Adidas’s former Chief Sales Officer, during an event in 2023 to celebrate the company’s financial year-end. Burton claims that Auschel made a series of disparaging remarks about Beyoncé, including calling her body “illicit” and questioning why her husband, music mogul Jay-Z, was not running her business. Burton contends she confronted Auschel about his comments, urging him not to “denigrate the experience of black women.”
Burton’s formal complaint regarding these comments led to a meeting with Adidas senior leaders, including CEO Bjørn Gulden, in March 2023. However, Burton claims that instead of being promoted after the meeting, she was demoted following the end of the Ivy Park collaboration. Burton contends that the company then began ostracizing her internally, leading to her dismissal from her role as Senior Manager of Statement Operations in February 2024.
In her legal filing, Burton is seeking $6.2 million in damages for what she describes as wrongful termination, discrimination, and retaliation. Adidas, in response to the allegations, stated that it had investigated Burton’s claims and found them to be “unfounded.” The company also confirmed it would “vigorously defend itself against these baseless accusations.”
This lawsuit comes at a time when Adidas has faced public scrutiny for its handling of previous incidents involving racism. The company has been criticized for its response to the controversial partnership with rapper and designer Kanye West, whom it cut ties with in 2022 following his antisemitic outbursts on social media.
Roland Auschel, who left Adidas in 2024, was previously the subject of a compliance probe in 2021 following multiple complaints about inappropriate comments on diversity. He received a “final warning” for his remarks, which were deemed “unacceptable” by the company.
April Burton, who joined Adidas in 2020, claims her dismissal followed what she describes as a “sham investigation.” As of now, Adidas has not provided further comment beyond their denial of the claims.
