(Reuters) – Apple Inc's (NASDAQ:) board of directors recommended investors vote against a shareholder proposal to eliminate the company's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to a proxy filing from the company.
The National Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank, made a suggestion that the company consider eliminating its “inclusion and diversity program, policies, departments, and goals.”
The motion cited recent Supreme Court decisions and made the argument that DEI poses “litigation risks, reputational risks, and financial risks to companies” and could make Apple more vulnerable to lawsuits.
Apple responded that it had an established compliance program and that the proposal was unnecessary. She added that the shareholder proposal was an inappropriate attempt to carefully manage 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 the filing. The news was first reported by TechCrunch.
Several major companies including Meta (NASDAQ:) and Amazon (NASDAQ:) are scaling back diversity programs ahead of Republican Donald Trump's return to the US presidency as conservative opposition to such initiatives grows.
Conservative groups have denounced DEI programs and threatened to sue companies over them, encouraged by a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down affirmative action in college admissions decisions.
The changes show how some of America's largest companies have reacted to a larger conservative backlash against diversity initiatives, which has multiplied after widespread protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
