Lindsay Gregg, who was Adidas’ head of women’s basketball sports marketing from January 2022 to February 2026, has filed a lawsuit against her former employer, charging she was fired for raising concerns about gender discrimination and the treatment of female athletes. She also charged Adidas with whistleblower retaliation.
In the lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, OR, Gregg, a former professional basketball player, said she was hired to sign collegiate and high school female basketball players for the brand. Gregg played basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2007 to 2011 as Lindsay Laur and then played professionally in Puerto Rico, Europe and Australia.
Her job at Adidas entailed “acting as those athletes’ agent” within the company as “she advocated for them, promoted them and ensured they had resources to be successful on and off the court,” according to court papers.
The suit states Gregg grew Adidas’ women’s basketball program “exponentially,” including signing Olivia Miles, the second pick in the Monday, April 13, 2026, WNBA Draft; Aliyah Boston, the top pick and WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2023; and others. She also re-signed Candace Parker and managed relationships with athletes, including WNBA All-Stars Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper.
However, Gregg claimed that she managed twice as many athletes as her male counterparts, was alone in her “one-woman department,” and “was vocal about needing more investment and support.”
In 2023, Gregg was allowed to hire an employee to work with her, but the suit claims she still “did not receive nearly enough resources to adequately staff and support the program.” She said she was outspoken about the gender disparity, but her supervisor “dismissed” those concerns.
In January 2026, Gregg met with Adidas’ senior human resources director and “reported her belief that Adidas treated her differently than her male counterparts in sports marketing,” but she does not believe any action was taken, according to the suit.
Greg also accused Adidas of mistreating WNBA players Sophie Cunningham and Erica Wheeler at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend held in Los Angeles this past February. According to court papers, Cunningham and Wheeler were provided a trailer to get ready, change clothes and store items. When the women were headed inside, a man they did not know was leaving, while three individuals who had access to the trailer were inside and had moved the personal belongings of the Adidas endorsers.
The lawsuit states the individuals in the trailer were family members of an unidentified former NBA player, and a male Adidas marketing manager falsely told the company’s head of security that Gregg had authorized that player’s use of the trailer.
Gregg considered the situation “potentially unsafe” and reported it through an email to Adidas Human Resources.
“Our partners’ space, regardless of gender, should be protected and never taken from them,” she wrote to an Adidas human resources manager, according to a portion of the email included in the lawsuit. “When men feel entitled to take over women’s safe spaces, it undermines the purpose of those spaces by stripping women of environments where they can feel secure, safe and comfortable.”
She said the e-mail was forwarded to Cameron Mason, Adidas’ senior director of Basketball Sports Marketing and Gregg’s supervisor, even though Gregg thought it was confidential, and it included her belief that Mason knew about the former NBA player’s family’s presence in the trailer.
On February 22, Gregg filed a complaint with Adidas’ Human Resources Department, the suit states, claiming Mason’s involvement in women’s basketball had been “minimal” and that Gregg had repeatedly pushed, with limited success, “for growth initiatives and resources for female employees and athletes.”
Five days later, the suit notes, Mason fired Gregg, calling it a “business decision.”
Gregg is seeking a reinstatement of her job, as well as lost wages and benefits. She is also seeking money for emotional distress and attorney’s fees.
“For years, I advocated for athletes—for equitable resources and basic respect,” Gregg said in a press release. “I approached this work collaboratively, striving to partner with leadership and colleagues to create meaningful, lasting change. These women are exceptional competitors whose skill and professionalism deserve to be met with respect, support and investment. However, when I spoke up about disparities and conduct that put women in unsafe situations, Adidas chose to fire me instead of addressing those problems.”
Adidas said it does not comment on active litigation.
Image courtesy Adidas
