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BERLIN (Reuters) – Adidas
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An Adidas spokeswoman said it strongly rebuffed statements made in a letter by 83 employees, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, asking the supervisory board to investigate Karen Parkin\\\’s approach to racial issues in the workplace.
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The spokeswoman said Parkin had apologised for the comments in a statement issued to staff and was working with a coalition on the company\\\’s global diversity and inclusion commitments.
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“Our black employees have led the response that we will continue to implement together and that we have committed to as a company,” the spokeswoman said.
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In Parkin\\\’s statement, the HR boss admitted she had not made clear the company\\\’s stance against discrimination at a meeting at the Reebok brand in Boston last year when she made a comment about concern about racism being “noise”.
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“I should have chosen a better word…Should I have offended anyone, I apologise,” she said.
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Parkin, who holds joint British and U.S. citizenship, was appointed to the Adidas executive board in 2017, the first woman to join the company\\\’s top leadership since 1993.
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The employee letter cited by the Journal also asked Adidas to create a public platform where people can make anonymous complaints about racism.
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Adidas said it had long had a hotline where employees could submit such reports. It said last week it would engage a third-party investigator to oversee a zero-tolerance policy on racism and set up a council to ensure action on the issue.
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After close consultation with black employees, Adidas last week pledged to invest $20 million in the black community in the United States and make sure that at least 30% of all new U.S. jobs are filled with black and Latino people.
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Companies around the world have pledged to fund racial and social justice causes amid worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck.
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(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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