Shareholders Resolution Challenges Gender Disparities

Wal-Mart Shareholders Urge Disclosure of Stock Grants by Race & Gender [Responsible Wealth]

Question: Is there a Glass Ceiling?

At Wal-Mart’s annual meeting Friday, June 1, Responsible Wealth shareholders will challenge management on whether they are creating a gender and race glass ceiling, and ask for a report on how Wal-Mart’s perks are distributed.

The group will present a shareholder resolution for the third year running (http://responsiblewealth.org/shareholder/2007/wal-mart.html), which previously received 15% support.

“The information we seek is important to determine race and gender fairness,” said Mike Lapham, Responsible Wealth director. “We join others scrutinizing Wal-Mart to help stakeholders decide whether there’s a glass ceiling in employee equity compensation.”

Over the past three years, between 4.8% and 18.2% of options awarded annually went to the five highest paid officers, constituting 0.000003% of the company’s employees.

Of these, none have been women; only since 2005 has one been non-white.

Wal-Mart contends this report is unnecessary because the company’s appointed committees ensure its diversity goals are met. An internal plan says an officer’s annual incentive payment is reducible by up to 15 percent for not meeting diversity goals. In 2007, no such reductions occurred.

Responsible Wealth researcher Larry Brown will read a statement in support of the resolution at the June 1 meeting. Brown commented, “The relevant committees consist of M. Michele Burns (white woman), Douglas N. Daft (white), John D. Opie (white), Jose H. Villarreal (Latino), Linda S. Wolf (white woman), and David D. Glass, H. Lee Scott, Jr. and S. Robson Walton (all white men). You can look at their pictures on Wal-Mart’s own website. Based on this lack of diversity, employees and shareholders must question how committee decisions affect Wal-Mart employees, the majority of whom are women and people of color.”

“We’re simply advocating for what many large U.S. companies are already doing—distributing options broadly among employees,” says Brown. “Wealth
generated from stock options allows employees—hard-working people who are the nuts and bolts contributors to the company’s success—to fund a
family member’s college education, make a down payment on a house, provide for a comfortable retirement or establish a reserve pool for emergencies.”

Responsible Wealth (http://www.responsiblewealth.org) is a national network of affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic
inequality and advocate widespread prosperity.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, June 01, 2007

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