NEW YORK (AP) — The head of global human resources at sports apparel and shoe company Adidas resigned Tuesday following criticism from employees of what they see as the company’s failure to diversify its workforce.
Karin Parkin’s resignation comes after a group of Black employees called on Adidas’ supervisory board to investigate her and her strategy for addressing racial issues in the workplace.
Igor Landau, chairman of Adidas AG’s supervisory board, said in a statement that Parkin’s decision to leave the company reflects her belief that a new HR leader will “best drive forward the pace of change that Adidas needs at this time.”
But employees at Adidas and other companies like Amazon accused them of hypocrisy, saying their own workforces lacked diversity.
Adidas said its CEO Kasper Rorsted will assume responsibility for global human resources on an interim basis until a successor is appointed.
