Apple has rejected a proposal asking the technology giant to consider putting an end to its diversity practices, such as the use of race and sex in job decisions.
Apple said that a majority of shareholders had rejected the measure, which the company had argued was “inappropriately” trying “to microchip” its programs and policies.
He marks a large major defeat of a proposal from shareholders targeting the policies of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in a large American company in recent weeks, after the retailer Costco has managed to have managed a similar push.
The votes were criticized despite a fierce dei criticism of the American president Donald Trump, who pushed to end such programs through the federal government.
Trump’s orders have met legal roadblocks, even as many companies in the United States, including big names such as Meta, Amazon and Goldman Sachs, have already finished or canceled their own policies, citing legal risks.
The proposal at Apple was supported by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative reflection group which was at the origin of Costco’s proposal and has already undertaken with Apple on its green energy policies.
The organization argued that the existence of Apple’s diversity and inclusion programs exposed Apple to “reputation, reputation and financial risks”, noting that recent prosecution has allowed workers to pursue the more easily discrimination.
“If even only a fraction of employees files a prosecution, and some of them prove success, the cost for Apple could reach tens of billions of dollars,” he said.
Stefan Padfield of the Free Enterprise Project, which presented the proposal at the meeting on Tuesday, said that the risks to the company also increased after the Trump administration recently ordered the staff to investigate Dei in the private sector .
“The change of atmosphere is clear,” he said. “Dei is out and the merit is in it.”
The shareholders also rejected the proposals that would have forced Apple to report its AI confidentiality practices, its charitable gifts and its policies to combat sexual abuse.
