As You Sow Withdraws Meritocracy Shareholder Resolution at Deere
As You Sow Withdraws Meritocracy Shareholder Resolution at Deere
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, (310) 579-2188
BERKELEY, CA—February 24, 2024—Today, shareholder representative organization As You Sow announced that it has withdrawn Proposal 05 from the proxy statement of Deere & Co (NYSE: DE), which sought greater transparency and disclosure of the Company’s efforts to build a productive and meritocratic workforce. Shareholders originally filed the resolution out of concern that Deere had abandoned diversity and inclusion practices essential to the company’s longer term success in response to attacks from social media influencers with no stake in the success of the company.
However, after a number of dialogues over several months with Deere & Co staff on its intention to pursue strategic human capital management to maximize long-term growth, As You Sow decided to withdraw the proposal.
Deere has publicly stated, “We fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers' needs and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization. We believe our employees’ unique perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences contribute to innovation and our ability to create value for our customers. We also believe that a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve is essential to our long-term success. Deere is committed to treating our employees, who propel us toward achieving our business ambitions, fairly and inclusively.” We hold them to their words as these are considered material disclosures.
“Free markets rely on investors being able to independently evaluate company performance on a range of financial and non-financial performance metrics, including workforce composition and other human capital data,” said Meredith Benton, As You Sow Program Manager and founder of Whistle Stop Capital. “Investors seek to invest in companies that will best perform now and in the future. Less disclosure means investors are less informed and key material data remains out of view. Company disclosures build trust between the company and its shareholders and should not be curtailed due to fear of being targeted by politicized misinformation campaigns.”
She continued, “Our rigorous research of 1,641 companies over five years shows a statistically significant correlation linking diverse management teams to financial outperformance across key indicators, such as return on equity and return on investment.”
Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow added, “Large asset managers appear to have abdicated their fiduciary duty to support shareholder resolutions related to social and environmental issues due to political pressure. This intimidation seems to be deterring investment managers from collecting the data they need to make sound investment decisions. This risks harm to all who rely on financial professionals to optimize their portfolios to reduce material risk and for long-term sustainable growth.”
While Proposal 05 was withdrawn, investors are encouraged to join with Deere management in voting against anti-DEI Proposal 04.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.