Shareholders of Levi Strauss & Co. have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPP), a conservative think tank, to consider abolishing the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Levi’s board had advised against the proposal, and less than 1% of shareholders supported it, according to reporting in WWD.
Retailers have been caught between loud calls from President Trump and his supporters to abandon DEI and what appears to be strong public support for these programs. Costco’s board rejected a similar anti-DEI proposal from the think tank in January, but retailers including Tractor Supply, Walmart and Target have either minimized or eliminated DEI efforts in their organizations.
According to the NCPPP, “Levi’s support for DEI has gone out of style,” with the organization saying in a statement prior to the shareholder meeting that DEI initiatives carry “obvious legal, reputational and cultural risks” by “dividing people on the basis of race and sex.” The NCPPP also cautioned stakeholders to be skeptical of pronouncements that shareholders support DEI; however, the resulting vote seems to prove otherwise.
In fact, Target and to a lesser extent Walmart have seen foot traffic declines in recent months that pro-DEI forces attribute to consumer backlash and organized boycotts, according to Supermarket News.
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Levi’s President and CEO Michelle Gass told WWD earlier this year: “We’ve been committed to diversity and inclusion for literally decades, and it’s the core to who we are, so our commitment remains unchanged. We will do what’s right for our people, for our business. And at the end of the day, building a diverse and inclusive workplace helps us deliver stronger results.”
