Costco execs fighting against shareholder proposal to end DEI program

Photo: Getty Images Costco’s board of directors is fighting a proposal to eliminate its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, per Fox Business. During an annual meeting of Costco shareholders scheduled for next month, investors are set to vote on a proposal by the National Center for Public Policy Research, which is challenging the legality of the wholesale retailer’s DEI program. The proposal comes after the Supreme Court ruled against considering race in college admissions, citing that it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Several lawsuits have been filed against Fortune 100 companies, alleging that the Supreme Court ruling made corporate DEI programs illegal. In the wake of the ruling, companies like Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Zoom, and John Deere have rolled back DEI commitments or laid off employees from DEI departments, the proposal cites. “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,’” the National Center for Public Policy Research wrote in its shareholder proposal. “But sticking a new label on discriminatory practices does not protect Costco and its shareholders from these risks.” The National Center for...