Home

Apple investors urge a civil rights audit

MICHAEL LIEDTKE (AP Technology Writer)AP
Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company has been taking steps to achieve more diversity and inclusion.
Camera IconApple CEO Tim Cook says the company has been taking steps to achieve more diversity and inclusion. Credit: EPA

Apple's shareholders are urging the iPhone maker to undergo an independent audit assessing its treatment of female and minority employees, delivering a rare rebuke to a management team that runs the world's most valuable company.

The measure, passed during Apple's annual meeting, is nonbinding, so the company isn't required to adopt the recommendation.

But rebuffing the wishes of its shareholders would thrust Apple into an uncomfortable position, especially since the company has long cast itself as a champion of civil rights. CEO Tim Cook reiterated that belief on Friday during the meeting held remotely.

"I have long believed that inclusion and diversity are essential in their own right," Cook said. "And that a diversity of people, experiences and ideas is the foundation for any new innovation."

Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE

Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.

READ NOW

Like other major technology companies, Apple's workforce -- particularly in high-paid technical positions -- consists primarily of white and Asian men, an imbalance that the industry has been trying to address for many years.

Apple's board had pushed against the shareholder proposal seeking a civil rights audit that eventually be made public. The company pointed to its recent strides in civil rights inside and outside Apple that it said made a third-party audit of its practices unnecessary.

The initiatives included Apple making a $130 million commitment to a racial equity and justice fund after the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The company also says it is raising the pay of women and minority employees while also hiring more female, Black and Hispanic workers.

During Friday's meeting, Cook said Apple has achieved gender pay equity every year since 2017 and now has racial pay equity within the US.

He also said 59 per cent of Apple's leadership positions during the past year have been filled by people from "underrepresented communities."

But proponents of the civil rights proposal insisted Apple hasn't been doing enough, making it imperative for outsiders to investigate recurring reports of sexual harassment, discriminatory practices and other abuses within the company, which employs 154,000 worldwide.

The proposal gained momentum after Apple last year hired a former Facebook product manager, Antonio Garcia Martinez, to join its ad team -- a move that sparked an outcry among employees who accused him of making misogynistic and racist remarks in a 2016 book called "Chaos Monkeys." Apple quickly cut its ties with Garcia Martinez after the backlash.

Apple shareholders generally have been enthusiastic supporters of the company which is currently worth nearly $2.7 trillion, with big gains during the pandemic.

Yet the proposal for a civil rights audit of Apple won the backing of two advisory firms that often sway the votes of institutional shareholders. The audit proposal was supported by 5.13 million shares and opposed by 4.45 million shares, with 131.2 million shares abstaining, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Apple.

Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.

Sign up for our emails