Apple has filed several no-action letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in an attempt to omit four shareholder proposals on human rights and worker rights from its 2023 proxy materials.
In a series of no-action letters from late October, the U.S. tech giant asked the SEC for permission to exclude a shareholder proposal, filed by non-profit advocate SumOfUs and Jeff Perk, requesting a phaseout transition plan to cease supply chain activities involving labor from the Uyghur region of China in light of human rights abuses in the region.
The company argued that the proposal “may be excluded because it seeks to micromanage the company… by probing too deeply into matters of a complex nature upon which shareholders, as a group, would not be in a position to make an informed judgment.”
Another proposal, filed by Steven McGrath, asked the board to report on how effective the company’s policies and practices are in “protecting the rightful application of the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining” for its own workers and those in its supply chain.
Apple is now seeking permission from the SEC to exclude the proposal as it “substantially duplicates” another shareholder proposal filed by Trillium Asset Management that the company intends to include in its 2023 proxy statement.
“Although the proposals are not phrased identically, their principal thrust and focus and indeed their core concern are the same,” Apple said in its no-action letter.
An additional two shareholder proposals, filed by Dave Rahardja and Megan Mohr, respectively, ask the company to report on the effects of its return-to-office policy on employee retention and Apple’s competitiveness, and to enable its employees to work from any location that allows them to “do their best work.”
Apple contended that both proposals could be omitted from the 2023 proxy materials because the subject matter in both cases “directly relates to the quintessentially ordinary business matter of managing the workforce.” Failing this, Apple asked the SEC to throw out Mohr’s proposal as it duplicates the Rahardja proposal.
Lastly, the company is seeking permission to omit a proposal, co-filed by Nia Impact Capital and the Minderoo Foundation, urging it to adopt a policy that, should holders of a majority of non-insider shares voted elect to support a shareholder proposal, a board member will be made available for a discussion with the proposal’s proponents.
Again, Apple argued that the proposal may be excluded “because the subject matter directly concerns ordinary business matters within the board and management’s discretion.”