Brooks Sports
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Sports shoes and clothing
Founded in 1914, its products are sold in more than 40 countries. Acquired by Russell Corporation in 2004, which was acquired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 2008.
Company Ownership
| Brooks Sports, Inc. | USA | website | ||||
Russell Brands LLC 
owns 100% of Brooks Sports, Inc. |
USA | website | ||||
Clothing Part of Bershire Hathaway's Fruit of the Loom division. Brands include Russell, Brooks, Spalding & Sherrin. | ||||||
| Fruit of the Loom Ltd
owns 100% of Russell Brands LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Clothing Production occurs in Latin America, and at a new manufacturing plant in Morocco which serves the European market. Distributed in Australia by Range Works Pty Ltd. | ||||||
| » Berkshire Hathaway Inc
owns 100% of Fruit of the Loom Ltd |
USA | website | ||||
Conglomerate The world's 3rd richest man, Warren Buffett, owns about a quarter of the company. Berkshire Hathaway owns stakes of $1 billion or more in many companies including American Express, The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi, Wells Fargo, and IBM. Acquired half of Heinz in 2013. | ||||||
Company Assessment
| PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
| Brooks Sports, Inc. | ||||
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This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2020) |
The bluesign® Standard sets "best practices" for the use of chemicals and resources including water and energy in the textile industry. Textile manufacturers who are bluesign system partners agree to establish management systems to improve environmental performance in five key areas of the production process: resource productivity, consumer safety, water emissions, air emissions, and occupational health and safety. They regularly report their progress, are subject to on-site audits, and must meet improvement goals to maintain their status.
Source: bluesign (2016)
This company is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in March 2011 by a group of global apparel and footwear companies and non-profit organizations (representing nearly one third of the global market share for apparel and footwear). The Coalition's goals are to reduce the apparel industry's environmental and social impact, and to develop a universal index to measure environmental and social performance of apparel products.
Source: Sustainable Apparel Coalition (2020)
This company is a member of the Textile Exchange, a global non-profit that works closely with its members to drive textile industry transformation in preferred fibres, integrity and standards and responsible supply networks. They identify and share best practices regarding farming, materials, processing, traceability and product end-of-life in order to reduce the textile industry's impact on the world's water, soil and air, and the human population.
Source: Textile Exchange (2019)
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: Modern Slavery Registry (2016)
The 2020 Fashion Transparency Index reviewed 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 25%, signifying it is doing a bit more than the others when it comes to having policies and commitments in place and auditing and reporting activities, but could be doing more. The average score was 23% and the highest score was 73%.
Source: Fashion Revolution (2020) |
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| Russell Brands LLC | ||||
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The 2020 Fashion Transparency Index reviewed 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 36%, signifying it is publishing suppliers lists as well as detailed information about their policies, procedures, social and environmental goals, supplier assessment and remediation processes, and is more likely to be addressing issues such as living wages and collective bargaining. The average score was 23% and the highest score was 73%.
Source: Fashion Revolution (2020) |
In 2008, Russell Athletic announced it would close Jerzees de Honduras in response to workers' organising efforts. During that year, USAS organised the largest boycott in the history of modern student activism, and won! The company agreed to meet worker demands to reopen the factory and re-hire all 1200 workers, who had been without jobs for over 10 months.
Source: USAS (2009)
This 2010 investigative report by the Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights reveals systematic gross violations of human and worker rights in Jordanian sweatshops operated by Classic Fashion Apparel. Wal-Mart, Hanesbrands, Macy's, Russell, and Fruit of the Loom are among their customers. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (2010)
This 2013 report by the Workers Rights Consortium reveals that the majority of Haitian garment workers are being denied nearly a third of the wages they are legally due as a result of the factories' theft of their income. Wages for garment industry workers in Haiti are already among the lowest in the world. This company was named as being complicit in this wage theft.[Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Workers Rights Consortium (2013) |
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| Fruit of the Loom Ltd | ||||
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This company has signed the 'Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh', a program endorsed by Bangladeshi and international unions and labor rights organizations. The ground-breaking program includes independent safety inspections with public reports, mandatory factory building renovations, the obligation by brands and retailers to underwrite the cost of repairs, and a vital role for workers and their unions all in a legally-binding, enforceable agreement.
Source: Bangladesh Accord (2019)
This company has signed the Cotton Pledge with the Responsible Sourcing Network, signifying a public commitment to not knowingly source Uzbek cotton for the manufacturing of any of their products until the Government of Uzbekistan ends the practice of forced labor in its cotton sector. The Uzbek government uses local government officials, hospital directors, and school presidents to mobilize workers; and detains and tortures human rights defenders seeking to monitor the harvests.
Source: As You Sow (2019)
The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company is fully aligned with the Transparency Pledge, thereby committing to regularly publish on its website a list naming all sites that manufacture its products.
Source: Clean Clothes Campaign (2019) |
The Clean Clothes Campaign report, Tailored Wages 2019 analyses responses from 32 top clothing brands about their progress in implementing a living wage for the workers who produce their clothes. This company received the lowest possible grade in the report, meaning they produced no evidence that any worker making their clothes was paid a living wage anywhere in the world.
Source: Clean Clothes Campaign (2019)
D+ grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2019', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policies, transparency and traceability, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental management.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2019) |
This 2010 investigative report by the Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights reveals systematic gross violations of human and worker rights in Jordanian sweatshops operated by Classic Fashion Apparel. Wal-Mart, Hanesbrands, Macy's, Russell, and Fruit of the Loom are among their customers. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Source: Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights (2010)
When joining the Fair Labor Association (FLA) this company committed to promoting and complying with international labor standards throughout their supply chain. The FLA does not accredit the company itself; rather, they accredit the company's labor compliance program. Being granted accreditation implies that their workplace standards program is substantially in compliance with the FLA Code.
Source: Fair Labor Association (2016)
This company is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a legally binding, five-year commitment to improve safety in Bangladeshi ready-made garment factories. The Alliance aims to improve worker safety in the Bangladesh garment industry by upgrading factories, educating workers and management, empowering workers, and building institutions that can enforce and maintain safe working conditions throughout Bangladesh. However it lacks an important enforcement mechanism included in the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, and unlike the Accord, the Alliance has not received the endorsement of the ILO.
Source: Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety (2020)
This company is a member of The Sustainability Consortium, an organization of diverse global participants that work collaboratively to build a scientific foundation that drives innovation to improve consumer product sustainability. They develop transparent methodologies, tools, and strategies to drive a new generation of products and supply networks that address environmental, social, and economic imperatives.
Source: Sustainability Consortium (2019)
This company is a member of How2Recycle. The How2Recycle Label is a voluntary, standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. It involves a coalition of forward thinking brands who want their packaging to be recycled and are empowering consumers through smart packaging labels. Companies must be a member of the program to use the How2Recycle Label.
Source: How2Recycle (2020)
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: Modern Slavery Registry (2017) |
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| Berkshire Hathaway Inc | ||||
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The Forest 500 identifies, ranks, and tracks the governments, companies and financial institutions worldwide that together could virtually eradicate tropical deforestation. Rankings are based on their public policies and commitments and potential impacts on tropical forests in the context of forest risk commodities (palm oil, soy, beef, leather, timber and paper). This financial institution received a score of 0%.
Source: Forest 500 (2019)
The Unfriend Coal campaign by a group of NGOs has ranked the world's leading insurance companies on underwriting coal projects, coal divestment, and other climate action. This company ranked poorly across every criteria assessed.
Source: Unfriend Coal (2018)
As You Sow's 2019 report, Mining the Disclosures, is a deep analysis of 215 companies' human rights performance in relation to sourcing conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This company's score was 23.9% (Weak).
Source: As You Sow (2019)
This company received a score of 0/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 9/100 in the Diversified Financial Services and Capital Markets category of the 2019 SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices. The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2019)
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2021 rankings the public identified 19 issues, which are organised under the headings Workers, Communities, Customers, Shareholders and Environment. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 763th of 928 companies, and 38th of 44 Insurance companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2020)
This company has the lowest possible score on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2020) |
This 2009 report by the International Labor Rights Forum outlines several areas in which Berkshire Hathaway faces significant environmental, labor rights and human rights issues. [Listed under information due to age of report]
Source: ILRF (2009)
OpenSecrets.org tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives. Follow link to see this company's record of political donations, lobbying, outside spending and more.
Source: Open Secrets (2014) |
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Company Details
| Type | Wholly-owned subsidiary |
Contact Details
| Address | Bothell, Washington, USA |
| Website | www.brooksrunning.com |
Products / Brands
Brooks Sports|
Brooks Sportswear Brooks Sports Shoes |