Costco has urged its shareholders to vote against the push to limit the major retailer’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) after receiving a proposal about striking “discriminatory practices.”
The National Center for Public Policy Research requested that Costco publish a report about the risks the company could face by maintaining its current DEI policies, according to The Hill.
“It’s clear that DEI holds litigation, reputational and financial risks to the Company, and therefore financial risks to shareholders,” the proposal stated.
“And yet Costco still has such a program, though it was apprehensive enough to recognize this as it recently and quietly rebranded its DEI program to ‘People and Communities.’ But sticking a new label on discriminatory practices does not protect Costco and its shareholders from these risks,” the proposal continued.
The proposal noted the renamed program still contains a “commitment to equity,” meaning an “equality of outcome, not opportunity,” in addition to employing a “Chief Diversity Officer” that “picks suppliers based on their race and sex, still appears to factor in race and sex in hiring and promotion, and still contributes shareholder money to organizations that advance the discriminatory agenda of DEI.”
“With 310,000 employees, Costco likely has at least 200,000 employees who are potentially victims of this type of illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight,” the group stated. “Accordingly, even if only a fraction of those employees were to file suit, and only some of those prove successful, the cost to Costco could be tens of billions of dollars.”
Costco said the request is simply “inflicting burdens on companies with their challenges to longstanding diversity programs.” (RELATED: Appeals Court Deals Blow To Nasdaq’s Efforts At Pushing Diversity Rules On Companies).
In a statement to its investors, @costco‘s board of directors recommended that its shareholders not vote for the end of its large DEI program.
Costco’s support of DEI comes in contrast to several large retailers ending its discriminatory DEI programs, or rebranding them as… pic.twitter.com/aLRBLFCCKu
— Andy Ngo 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) December 28, 2024
“The proponent’s broader agenda is not reducing risk for the Company but abolition of diversity initiatives,” the wholesale corporation said.
“Our Board has considered this proposal and believes that our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary,” Costco said, adding that the Board “unanimously” recommends shareholders vote against the proposal.
The meeting where shareholders will vote on the issue is set to take place on Jan. 23.
The matter comes after companies like Walmart, Lowe’s and Harley Davidson announced they were repealing DEI practices following similar pushback.