Apple shareholders rebuffed an attempt to pressure the technology trendsetter into joining President Donald Trump's push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce.
The proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research β a self-described conservative think tank β urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives currently in the Trump administration's crosshairs. After a brief presentation about the anti-DEI proposal, Apple announced shareholders had rejected it without disclosing the vote tally.
The preliminary results will be outlined in a regulatory later Tuesday. The shareholder vote came a month after the same group presented a similar proposal during Costco's annual meeting, only to have it overwhelmingly rejected. A similar outcome is expected during Apple's annual meeting despite the vocal objections of critics. Just as Costco does, Apple has steadfastly stood behind diversity and inclusion efforts that its management contends make good business sense.
But the National Center for Public Policy Research's proposal has attacked Apple's diversity commitments for being out of line with recent court rulings and said the programs expose the Cupertino, California, company to an onslaught of potential lawsuits for alleged discrimination. The group estimated about 50, Apple employees could file cases against Apple without detailing how it arrived at that figure.
The specter of potential legal trouble was magnified last week when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a federal lawsuit against Target alleging the retailer's recently scaled-back DEI program alienated many consumers and undercut sales to the detriment of shareholders.
