NCPPR sues the SEC, alleging bias (2023)
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
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The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), a nonprofit organization, on April 28 filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleging that the Commission was biased against NCPPR because the organization files shareholder proposals that are opposed to ESG.
American First Legal Services, co-counsel for NCPPR with Boyden Gray & Associates, describes the case against the SEC as follows:
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NCPPR is a communications and research foundation that focuses on providing free market solutions to public policy problems and is a longtime Kroger Co. (“Kroger”) shareholder. In its “Framework for Action: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion,” Kroger indicates that it “strives to reflect the communities we serve and foster a culture that empowers everyone to be their true self.” As part of its effort to associate its brand with diversity and inclusion, Kroger’s board adopted The Kroger Co. Policy on Business Ethics, which commits Kroger “to a policy of equal opportunity for all associates without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” NCPPR sent a proposal to Kroger requesting, as shareholders, that Kroger issue a public report detailing the potential risks associated with omitting “viewpoint” and “ideology” from its written equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy. Kroger submitted a letter to the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance arguing that the Proposal “deals with matters relating to the Company’s ordinary business operations” because it pertains only to “Kroger’s management of its workforce and policies concerning employees.” Kroger, and the SEC, effectively turned a blind eye and blocked the proposal, ignoring the fact that conservatives often face employment discrimination due to political ideology, while acknowledging other factors like “gender.” NCPPR argued that the SEC was engaging in viewpoint discrimination by giving the green light to identical proposals about certain forms of discrimination (e.g., against sexual orientation and gender identity) while agreeing companies could exclude proposals about other forms of discrimination that are at least as significant to society (e.g., viewpoint and ideology, especially against conservatives). NCPPR operates the Free Enterprise Project, which, by its own description, “files shareholder resolutions, engages corporate CEOs and board members at shareholder meetings, petitions the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for interpretative guidance, and sponsors effective media campaigns to create the incentives for corporations to stay focused on their missions.”[1] |
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FEP Director Scott Shepard says that the SEC has been discriminating against it and others, favoring ESG in its policy:
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For years we've watched the SEC staff discriminate against center/right proposals, including ours. In doing so and in failing to provide meaningful explanations for its decisions, it has violated the law in ways that breach its statutory duties and our First Amendment rights. This action is a first step in ending that illegal discrimination.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
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