Corporate Secretary reported on workforce diversity proposals filed (or co-filed*) by Trillium Asset Management for the 2019 proxy season with Travelers Companies and four other companies, which are revealed on Trillium's website as Xilinx (pending); Home Depot* (pending); Analog Devices (outcome: 48%); and F5 Networks (withdrawn following the company’s commitment to improve data transparency by publishing workforce composition data, and enhance public disclosures of its D&I policies and practices).
The form of proposal calls for a diversity report that identifies employees according to gender and race in major EEOC-defined job categories - listing numbers or percentages in each category, and describes policies/programs focused on increasing workplace gender and racial diversity.
Trillium's Brianna Murphy notes that the investor plans to prioritize executive diversity going forward:
Given the date, Trillium does not expect to file additional proposals for the 2019 proxy season. ‘We are continuing with our focus on workplace diversity but are shifting to focus more on executive diversity, which [in itself] can affect workplace diversity,’ Murphy adds. Trillium has filed nine board/executive diversity proposals in 2019, up from four last year, according to its website.
Along those lines, its website shows a number of board/executive diversity proposals filed (or co-filed*) for 2019 including Newell Brands, Alphabet, Inc*, Carter's, Inc., Marathon Petroleum, Borg Warner, and BNY Mellon - some of which reportedly have been withdrawn based on mutually satisfactory agreements.
Access additional information & resources on our Shareholder Proposals page. This post first appeared in last week's Society Alert!