Apple shareholders are likely to say no on Tuesday to a plan to put pressure on the tech leader to end programs that are meant to make its workforce more diverse.
A month ago, the same group brought up a similar idea at Costco’s annual meeting, but it was heavily turned down. Even though critics are very angry, the same thing is likely to happen at Apple’s yearly meeting.
Just like Costco, Apple has always supported attempts to be more diverse and welcoming, which its leaders say is good for business.
But the National Centre for Public Policy Research’s plan says that Apple’s diversity commitments are not in line with recent court decisions. It also says that the programs put the Cupertino, California, company at risk of a lot of possible discrimination lawsuits. The group said that about 50,000 Apple workers could file lawsuits against the company, but it didn’t say how it came up with that number.
The National Centre for Public Policy Research says in its proposal, “It’s clear that DEI puts companies at risk of lawsuits, damage to their reputation, and financial losses. This means that shareholders face financial losses, which puts companies at even greater risk of not living up to their fiduciary duties.”
The threat of legal trouble grew last week when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a federal case against Target, saying that the store’s recently limited DEI program turned off many customers and hurt sales, which hurt shareholders.
As an answer to the anti-DEI plan, Apple said that its program is an important part of the company’s culture and has helped it grow to a market value of $3.7 trillion, which is more than any other business in the world.
“We believe that how we act is just as important to Apple’s success as making the best products in the world,” the company said in a statement against the plan. «We want to do business in an honest, moral way that follows all laws and rules that apply.
In its most recent diversity and inclusion report, which came out in 2022, Apple said that nearly three-quarters of its global workforce was made up of white and Asian workers. At that point, almost two-thirds of its workers were men.
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Other big tech companies have said for years that they mostly hire white and Asian men, especially for high-paying engineering jobs. This trend has led the industry to try to become more diverse, but most of these efforts have failed.
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