Disney (DIS) stockholders stood by the company’s participation in a controversial rating system that evaluates how it treats LGBTQ employees, consumers, and investors — doing so even as the company backs away from some diversity programs.
Disney becoming the fourth such case this year where investors pushed back against anti-DEI proposals at prominent companies. Other anti-DEI proposals were voted down at Apple (APPL), Costco (COST), and John Deere (DE).
Investors on Thursday rejected a proposal from the conservative group, Free Enterprise Project, that would have required Disney to reconsider its participation in the Corporate Equality Index (CEI).
The index, published each year by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, became a popular tool over the past two decades for companies to assess their inclusion of people who identify as LGBTQ.
The system, which grew from 319 corporate participants in 2002 to 1,449 in 2025, evaluates companies on a scale of 0% to 100%, taking into account their workforce LGBTQ protections, benefits, culture and social responsibility, and behavior towards the community.
Disney has received a perfect score on the CEI since 2007.
Disney CEO Bob Iger. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File) ·Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The vote rejecting a reexamination of Disney’s CEI participation comes after Disney backed away from other diversity policies as political heat around the issue intensifies across corporate America.
The company last month joined a growing list of businesses that have removed or altered diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives after President Trump issued two executive orders aimed at undoing federal DEI programs within the US government.
The nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), announced a similar move on Friday.
In a memo to staff, JPMorgan chief operating officer Jennifer Piepszak said the lender was changing the word “equity” to “opportunity” in a organization previously known as “diversity, equity & inclusion.”
Piepszak also said the company would reduce diversity-oriented trainings, and integrate initiatives that the former group handled into its human resources and corporate responsibility departments.
JPMorgan Chase is the nation’s largest bank. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
“We remain committed to our core principles, which includes our belief in the power of a diverse workforce that strengthens our business and attracts and retains the best talent,” she said in the memo.
“We’ve always been committed to hiring, compensation and promotion that are merit-based; we do not have illegal quotas or pay incentives, and we would never turn someone away because of their political or religious beliefs, or because of who they are.”
The latest guidance issued Wednesday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is that certain DEI-related employer practices may be illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal law that outlaws employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, or sex.
The US Justice Department joined one of two documents published by the EECO saying employees should file charges if they believe they’ve been subjected to DEI-related discrimination.
Employment law experts from Seyfarth advised companies to take note.
“Employers whose current or recent DEI practices may be implicated…should consider conducting privileged reviews of their current DEI initiatives,” the firm’s lawyers said.
“While not every DEI initiative is at risk, the [guidance] reflects the EEOC’s focus on unlawful DEI programs and foreshadows its upcoming enforcement and litigation efforts.”
The issue of DEI is a widespread thus far during 2025’s shareholder meeting season as investors vote on a variety of measures that could change how their companies operate. Both champions and critics of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies have been sponsoring proposals to either bolster or diminish those policies.
So far, in addition to the latest vote at Disney, none of these proposals have garnered support from investors at Apple (APPL), Costco (COST), and John Deere (DE).
That’s not expected to change as more votes are tabulated at more company shareholder meetings, according to experts who follow these votes.
“I don’t expect this year that we will see many, if any, get majority support,” Elizabeth Bieber, head counsel for shareholder engagement and activism defense at Freshfields, told Yahoo Finance earlier this Month.
This year’s early surge in anti-DEI measures could be a signal that opposition proposals are on the rise, Bieber said.
It could also lead to a rise in dueling DEI proposals going to a vote within the same company, as happened in February at John Deere (DE). Deere shareholders voted down both pro-DEI and anti-DEI measures.
“DEI, as of last year, is certainly one issue where companies were receiving [proposals] on both ends of the ideological spectrum,” Bieber said
So far, neither pro- nor anti-oriented measures have gained much majority support. In fact, Bieber said, support levels among S&P 500 companies dropped for both pro- and anti-DEI proposals over the last couple of proxy seasons.
Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on X @alexiskweed. David Hollerith contributed to this report.
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