Levi’s shareholders vote against proposal to dismantle DEI programmes

Shareholders at Levi’s are said to have voted against a proposal suggesting for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes to be abolished at the company. In the US brand’s latest shareholder meeting, investors holding less than 1 percent of shares voted in favour of the proposal, a company spokesperson told WWD.

The proposal was brought forth by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that presented the idea under the organisation’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP). During the meeting, FEP’s executive director, Stefan Padfield, intended to raise concerns over DEI programmes that he described as divisive and “damaging to Black Americans”.

It appeared Levi’s shareholders didn’t agree, however. With their decision, they stood behind the board’s initial recommendations to vote against the proposal. The board had stated, according to WWD, that it “believes in the strong business case for a diverse and inclusive workforce”.

Attempts to dismantle DEI programmes across the US began to surge upon the reelection of Donald Trump as president. Almost immediately after stepping into the White House, Trump denounced DEI programmes in an executive order, claiming they caused “immense public waste and shameful discrimination”.

It reversed a former executive order introduced under former president Joe Biden, who issued an order to “advance racial equity and support for underserved communities” on his first day in office. While Trump’s executive order particularly pointed to organisations under the Federal Government, the stance has since filtered out into other areas of business, prompting some in the retail sector, like Target and Walmart, to also roll back related initiatives.