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Target Companies

Walt Disney Co

Non-management employees part of director nominees

$279,996 Dollars in Walt Disney Co

Non-management employees part of director nominees

$279,996

Dollars in Walt Disney Co Supporting

Progress updates

     December 23 2020

Today (December 23, 2020) Disney failed in its attempt to argue to the SEC that they could leave this proposal off the proxy. See notification at https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/shareholder-proposals-2019-2020.pdf.

Therefore, shareholders will get to vote on this issue at the annual meeting unless Disney negotiates with proponents and they agree to withdraw the proposal.  Similar proposals filed at several other companies are also likely to be voted on, since Disney's use of expensive legal arguments against common sense failed. 


There is growing consensus that employees on corporate boards can contribute to long-term corporate sustainability. Policymakers note, having companies run exclusively to benefit shareholders contributes to "stagnant wages, runaway executive compensation and underinvestment in research and innovation."[1] The Business Roundtable asks corporations to align with stakeholder interests, including employees.[2]

Anticipated benefits include reduced turnover as employees are more empowered to make firm-specific investments, better informed decision-making because employees have specialized knowledge, better monitoring of management with increased information channels, and reduced shareholder myopia since employees often take a longer-term view.[3]

While our Board satisfies independence requirements, it lacks representation from non-management employees, who bring a different understanding of operations than other directors. Additionally, Disney’s CEO to median employee pay ratio is 911:1 and Disney has no employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to help grow employee wealth and engagement.[4]

The Policy we propose resembles the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior operations openings. By adopting the Rooney Rule, National Football League teams increased diversity and set a precedent for other industries. Policies similar to the Rooney Rule have been adopted by Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, Activision Blizzard, Dover, Expedia, Fastenal, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, L Bands, Robert Half International, Ross Stores and others.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/opinion/warren-workers-boards.html

[2] https://opportunity.businessroundtable.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BRT-Statement-on-the-Purpose-of-a-Corporation-with-Signatures.pdf

[3] https://www.corpgov.net/2020/04/kokkinis-and-sergakis-employee-participation-in-uk-companies/ 

4] https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/rutgerskelloggreport_april2019.pdf

 

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This Petition was created by an individual shareowner, like you.

Empowering Workers in Governing Walt Disney Corp.

Progress updates

     December 23 2020

Today (December 23, 2020) Disney failed in its attempt to argue to the SEC that they could leave this proposal off the proxy. See notification at https://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/shareholder-proposals-2019-2020.pdf.

Therefore, shareholders will get to vote on this issue at the annual meeting unless Disney negotiates with proponents and they agree to withdraw the proposal.  Similar proposals filed at several other companies are also likely to be voted on, since Disney's use of expensive legal arguments against common sense failed. 


Shareholders of Walt Disney Company urge the board to adopt a policy of promoting significant representation of employee perspectives among corporate decision makers by requiring the initial list of candidates from which new director nominees are chosen by the Nominations and Governance Committee to include (but need not be limited to) non-management employees. Other options includes worker councils, board liaison, Employee Stock Ownership Plans as modalities for encouraging more employee input into governing Walt Disney.  It has been shown that involving employees in the decision making process, see below, can help to create employee satisfaction and commitment to a company.