A black businessman has been awarded more...

A black businessman has been awarded more than $180,000 in damages from Nike, Inc., which he claimed refused to allow him to stock their brand of athletic shoes for racial reasons.

Ralph H. Fields said he was forced to close the Super Shoes Inc. store in Lafayette Square Shopping Center in Indianapolis because he was unable to stock Nike athletic shoes.

A panel of six white jurors in a federal civil trial awarded Fields $80,069 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages for discrimination.