On March 21, 2024, the Apple logo is stamped on the window of an Apple store in Chicago.
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apple’s According to the company’s proxy filing, its board of directors recommended that investors vote against shareholder proposals that would eliminate the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program.
The National Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, submitted a proposal that would see the company eliminate its “inclusion and diversity programs, policies, departments, and goals.”
The proposal cited a recent Supreme Court decision and argued that DEI poses “litigation, reputational, and financial risks to companies” and could make Apple more vulnerable to lawsuits.
Apple responded that the company has a well-established compliance program and that the proposal was unnecessary. It added that the shareholder proposal is an inappropriate attempt to micromanage Apple’s business strategy.
“Apple is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in recruiting, hiring, training, or promotion on any basis protected by law,” the iPhone maker said in a filing. The news was first reported by TechCrunch.
Including several major companies, meta and Amazonis rolling back its diversity program ahead of Republican Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency amid growing conservative opposition to such efforts.
Conservative groups, emboldened by a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions decisions, are slamming DEI programs and threatening to sue companies.
The changes come amid widespread protests following the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020, and a conservative backlash against diversity initiatives that led to major U.S. It shows how some companies are responding.
