German sports equipment maker Adidas announced Tuesday the sudden resignation of its personnel director, recently accused by American workers of having minimized the problems of racism in the company. Karen Parkin, 55, has informed the Adidas supervisory board that she will "leave the board" and "leave the company," the group said in a statement. "It became clear to me that to unify the organization it would be better to retire and pave the way for change," said the person.
Employees called for investigation in June
The American "made this decision herself," says a source close to the company. After 23 years at Adidas, she leaves Tuesday through the back door after recent criticism.
In mid-June, a group of 83 employees in the United States asked the supplier's supervisory board to inquire into Karen Parkin. The petitioners criticized him for having declared at a meeting at the beginning of the year that racism was only a "noise" discussed in the United States and a problem absent among the brands of the group.
Adidas has announced hiring measures
On June 12, Karen Parkin apologized in an intranet message where she believed that she should have "chosen a better word" at this meeting held at the Reebok subsidiary. Karen Parkin said on Tuesday that he was "deeply committed (to) the goals of creating a more diverse, inclusive and equitable business", while stressing that "there is still a lot to do" in this regard.
In early June, Adidas announced that 30% of new hires in the United States will involve black people or people of Latin American origin.
The boss of the group of 60,000 people, the Dane Kasper Rorsted, will provide temporary staff management, while a person to replace Karen Parkin will be recruited.