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SAN RAMON, California (AP) AppleShareholders approved a proposal that called for the iPhone maker to undergo an independent audit that evaluated its treatment of women and minority employees, and brought rare criticism of a management team that runs the world’s most valuable company.
The measure passed on Friday Apple‘s annual meeting is non-binding, so the Cupertino, California, company is not required to adopt the recommendation.
However, rejecting the requests of its shareholders, Apple It has come to an uncomfortable position, especially as the company has portrayed itself as a longtime civil rights advocate. CEO Tim Cook He reiterated that belief in response to a shareholder’s question at a remote meeting on Friday.
“I have long believed that inclusion and diversity are necessary in their own right” to cook said. “And that diverse people, experiences and ideas are the basis of every new innovation.”
Like other big tech companies, Apple‘s workforce—especially in high-paying technical positions—is primarily made up of white and Asian men, an imbalance the industry has been trying to address for many years.
Apple‘s board of directors opposed the shareholder proposal seeking a civil rights audit that would eventually be made public. The company drew attention to its latest steps in civil rights at home and abroad. Apple making third-party auditing of applications unnecessary
Involved initiatives Apple He made a $130 million commitment to the racial equality and justice fund following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. The company also says it has increased wages for female and minority workers, while also hiring more female, Black and Hispanic workers.
At the meeting on Friday, to cook said Apple Gender pay equity every year since 2017 and now has racial pay equity in the US he is also said 59% AppleOver the past year, leadership positions have been filled by people from “underrepresented communities”.
But advocates of the civil rights proposal insisted Apple Because it didn’t do enough, repeated reports of sexual harassment, discriminatory practices, and other abuses within the company, which employs 154,000 people worldwide, have become mandatory to be investigated by outsiders.
The proposal later gained momentum. Apple Last year, it hired Antonio Garcia Martinez, a former Facebook product manager, to join the ad team — which sparked backlash among employees who accused him of making misogynistic and racist remarks in his 2016 book, “Chaos Monkeys.” Apple He quickly cut ties with Garcia Martinez after the backlash.
Apple It also raised widespread privacy concerns last year by announcing its plans to scan iPhones for images of child sexual abuse. Requested complaints about this scanning program Apple to step back from this plan, but provided another rallying point for supporters of a civil rights oversight.
Most shareholder proposals are overwhelmingly rejected when challenged by public companies’ boards of directors. That was the case for the other five shareholder proposals. Applemeeting on Friday.
Apple shareholders have often been enthusiastic supporters of the company due to the enormous wealth it has created. Apple It’s currently worth about $2.7 trillion and most of the gains made in the last two years of a pandemic that has made its products and services even more popular.
Bid for a civil rights audit though Apple won the backing of two consulting firms, often influencing institutional shareholders’ votes. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the audit proposal was supported by 5.13 million shares, opposed by 4.45 million shares, and 131.2 million shares abstained. Apple.
The result “shows what investors want to know. Apple Dieter Waizenegger, managing director of SOC Investment Group, one of the shareholders submitting the civil rights proposal, is making a difference in tackling potential harms to key stakeholders arising from its products and policies.” “Investors heard Apple‘ corporate and retail workers who speak boldly against unfair and harmful conditions, even under threat of retaliation.“
Similar shareholder proposals seeking civil rights audits in many other publicly traded companies, including CitiGroup, were passed over the past year.
although he does not say whether Apple plans to be subject to a civil rights audit, to cook described gender and racial equality as “essential to the future of our company.”
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