40% of Abbott Shareholders Support Racial Justice Resolution
Health care giant scores below peers on As You Sow’s Racial Justice Scorecard
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: Stefanie Spear, [email protected], 216-387-1609
BERKELEY, CA—APRIL 23, 2021—Today, at Abbott Laboratories’ annual meeting, 38.9% of investors voted in support of a racial justice shareholder resolution. The proposal, filed by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, asked Abbott to publish a report disclosing the company's plan to promote racial justice.
Investors seek quantitative, comparable data to understand if, and how, the company is promoting a commitment to racial justice. As You Sow encourages the report to include policies the company could adopt to promote racial justice in its workplace and operations, as well as detailed quantitative information on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including detailed recruitment, hiring, and retention policies and outcomes cut by gender, race, and ethnicity.
“After a year of COVID-19 laying bare the racial disparities and persistent systemic racism entrenched in America, it is deeply troubling that Abbott has staunchly refused our request to disclose information on their internal policies and practices related to achieving racial equity,” said Olivia Knight, As You Sow’s racial justice initiative manager. “Despite strong statements of support for racial justice, and community outreach programs focused on Black communities, Abbott’s lack of transparency across the board on workplace equity disclosure speaks volumes about its true internal values.”
Racial justice presents a point of material portfolio risk to investors. Given heightened awareness around racism, failing to act and disclose policies and quantifiable data raises the material risk of revenue loss and reduced brand value.
Over the past year, As You Sow has created a Racial Justice Scorecard on companies in the S&P 500. The scorecard ranks companies on public statements on racial justice and corporate policies and practices, including, DEI disclosure, community engagement, and donations to racial justice. The resolution filed at Abbott was underscored by the company’s low score of 27%. This score lags behind peers in the healthcare sector such as Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Abbott’s low score is due to its lack of publicly accessible diversity and inclusion targets and lack of disclosed data concerning recruitment, hiring, and retention rates of people of color within the company. Without adequate transparency around DEI efforts, investors have no way of knowing how Abbott is challenging systemic racism in their business practices.
The investor community will continue to compel companies to release statistical data on their internal DEI processes. Companies must realize that lack of transparency and failure to act will result in harm to their bottom line and draw negative press attention to their internal practices.
“Abbott’s inaction will only be met with increased demands for corporate change,” Knight continued. “It is time for Abbott to release statistical data, to prove they are allies in the fight to end systemic racism in corporate America.”
To learn more about As You Sow’s work on racial justice, click here.
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As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. See our resolutions here.