The vote is scheduled to take place during the annual shareholders meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 9, at the Wright Conference Center, No. 1 Leggett Road, Carthage.
In a proxy statement filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Leggett's board of directors left no doubt about its disdain for the proposal.
As it was last year, the proposal is being submitted by Walden Management, a minority shareholder.
The Proposal
Leggett & Platt does not explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation in its written employment policy;
According to a September 2002 survey by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs, 41% of gay and lesbian workers in the United States reported an experience with some form of job discrimination related to sexual orientation; almost one out of every 10 gay or lesbian adults stated that they had been fired or dismissed unfairly from a previous job, or pressured to quit a job because of their sexual orientation;
National public opinion polls consistently find more than three-quarters of the American people support equal rights in the workplace for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals; for example, in a Gallup poll conducted in June 2001, 85% of respondents favored equal opportunity in employment for gays and lesbians.
San Francisco, Minneapolis, Seattle and Los Angeles currently have in effect legislation restricting business with companies which do not guarantee equal treatment for lesbian and gay employees; and such legislation will come into effect in the state of California in 2007;
Sixteen states, the District of Columbia, and more than 140 cities, including St. Louis, have laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation; Our company has operations in, and makes sales to, institutions in states and cities that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
Leggett & Platt is increasingly alone in its position, as 98% of Fortune 100® companies, and more than 85% of the Fortune 500® companies, have adopted written nondiscrimination policies prohibiting discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF);
Other manufacturing companies, such as Baldor Electric, Deere, Donaldson, General Electric, General Motors, Herman Miller, HON Industries, Illinois Tool Works, Teleflex and United Technologies do explicitly prohibit this form of discrimination in their written policies;
Other major corporate employers based in Missouri including Anheuser-Busch, Emerson Electric, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hallmark Cards, Monsanto, and Sigma-Aldrich also explicitly prohibit this form of discrimination in their written policies;
We believe that the hundreds of corporations with nondiscrimination policies that reference sexual orientation have a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees from the widest talent pool;
Our company has an interest in preventing discrimination and resolving complaints internally to avoid costly litigation or damage to our reputation as an equal opportunity employer;
RESOLVED: The Shareholders request that Leggett & Platt amend its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and to substantially implement that policy.
STATEMENT: Employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation diminishes employee morale and productivity. Because state and local laws differ with respect to employment discrimination, our company would benefit from a consistent, corporate-wide policy to enhance efforts to prevent discrimination, resolve complaints internally, and ensure a respectful and supportive atmosphere for all employees. Leggett & Platt will enhance its competitive edge by joining the growing ranks of companies guaranteeing equal opportunity for all employees.
Leggett's Response
We believe the proposed resolution is unnecessary because Leggett is already an equal opportunity employer with a firm and long-standing commitment to preventing discrimination in the workplace. Leggett’s existing anti-discrimination policy states, "We are committed to equal opportunity in all aspects of employment, including hiring, promotion, training, compensation, termination and disciplinary action."
-We are committed to the highest ethical standards, which include assuring equal employment and promotional opportunities free of discrimination on any basis other than merit and performance-related qualifications. Our policies reflect our high standards, and we implement these policies in our business operations through ongoing training.
-We believe our employment record supports our commitment to nondiscrimination. In a company with 33,000 employees, we are not aware of a single charge of discrimination based on sexual orientation filed with any city, state or federal agency, nor has the Company received notice from any customer or supplier that its employment policies or practices jeopardize its relationship with them. In addition, for the last twenty years Leggett has provided employees with access to a national hotline for anonymous reporting of discrimination or harassment in the workplace.
-We believe our written policies should specifically list only those types of discrimination prohibited by federal law. This approach furthers the Company's legal compliance efforts by highlighting categories of illegal discrimination and, thus, helps to reduce our compliance costs. We also believe the addition of sexual orientation to the list would result in increased costs by encouraging frivolous lawsuits.
-We believe singling out employees by sexual orientation (or any other classification not mandated by federal law) would dilute our policy of prohibiting discrimination in any form and would divert attention from our primary goal of a completely non-discriminatory workplace.
-We believe that adding sexual orientation to the list of prohibited forms of discrimination may be a first step in a more expansive agenda, including the addition of domestic partner benefits at a significant cost to the Company.
-We believe that, contrary to comments in the proponents’ proposal, Leggett suffers no competitive disadvantage in recruiting and retaining employees. In contrast, we believe our comprehensive nondiscrimination policy and reputation for protecting equal opportunity in all aspects of employment benefits the Company, its shareholders and employees.
-Leggett's shareholders defeated, by a 3-to-1 margin, a similar proposal made by Walden Asset Management at the Company’s 2006 annual meeting. We believe last year's overwhelming rejection by shareholders sent a clear message to our Board that Leggett should oppose this unnecessary and costly addition to our nondiscrimination policy.
The Board of Directors unanimously recommends a vote AGAINST this shareholder proposal.
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