Problem:
Kroger’s Board of Directors 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 ideology.” 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.”
Action:
In partnership with Boyden Gray & Associates, AFL filed a petition at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) and two individual shareholders for being denied their lawful right as shareholders to protect prospective employees from discrimination based on political “ideology.”
Result:
This case is currently being litigated.
