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Nike to Add Pregnancy Pay Protections to Contracts of Female Athletes

The move comes after an ex-Nike athlete claimed the company threatened to stop paying her once she expressed interest in having a child.

Nike plans to add new language to their contracts for female athletes that would protect their pay during pregnancy, the company told The Wall Street Journal. The move comes after one of their former runners publicly accused the company of threatening to stop paying her while she was pregnant. The company reportedly told the newspaper that it adopted the policy last year but had now begun writing the terms into contracts for endorsement deals in the future. Athletes who are currently endorsed will get similar pay protections, the company said. Their old contracts gave the company license to reduce pay for any reason, including pregnancy and childbirth. “We recognize we can do more and that there is an important opportunity for the sports industry to evolve to support female athletes,” the company said.