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Deere & Company faces shareholder votes on DE&I policies
Pro- and anti-DE&I resolutions are in the company’s proxy statement Shareholders in Deere & Company, also known as John Deere, will vote at the firm’s February 26 AGM on two contrasting proposals concerning the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts after the company unsuccessfully requested that the SEC allow it to omit one of them from its 2025 proxy statement. A proposal filed by As You Sow asks Deere to ‘report publicly on the effectiveness of its efforts to create a meritocratic workplace where no one is excluded from contributing to the company’s success because of an immutable characteristic,…
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Opinion: Net zero targets don’t affect corporate strategy – so let’s get rid of them
Such metrics reduce complex issues down to a simple number, argues Scott Lane At the core of most corporate ESG strategies, we are used to seeing a number. It’s expected that every major institution and organization should have a grand net zero target at the beating heart of their sustainability strategies; a date in the future when they promise their carbon emissions will reach net zero. Investors, too, are encouraged to take these standards into account when meeting their ESG requirements for their portfolio, ensuring that the spread of companies is on track for meeting net zero at a determined…
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Tyler Technologies names new CLO
Bill Van Asselt was previously deputy legal chief Software company Tyler Technologies has promoted Bill Van Asselt to chief legal officer (CLO). Van Asselt succeeds Abby Diaz, who has been promoted to the newly created position of chief administrative officer. Diaz will continue to oversee Van Asselt’s legal team and adds to her role responsibility for corporate governance and responsibility, internal audit, data privacy and corporate communications. She will continue to be Tyler’s corporate secretary. Van Asselt was previously deputy CLO and joined Tyler through the acquisition of NIC in 2021. He had been at NIC for nearly 11 years,…
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The week in GRC: Supreme Court declines to hear oil companies’ appeal of climate case and Republicans try to repeal Corporate Transparency Act
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters reported that the US Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by oil companies to scuttle a lawsuit by Honolulu accusing them of misleading the public for decades about the dangers of climate change brought about by the burning of fossil fuels. The justices turned away an appeal by the oil companies of a decision by Hawaii’s top court allowing the suit, which alleged violations of state law, to proceed. The suit was filed in 2020 by the city and county of Honolulu and the Honolulu Board…
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Warner Bros Discovery hires legal chief from American Airlines
Priya Aiyar starts with the media company in February Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has hired Priya Aiyar as chief legal officer, effective next month. She will report to CEO David Zaslav. Aiyar will join WBD from American Airlines, where she has been CLO since 2022. In that role she has overseen the company’s legal affairs and strategies globally and has overseen labor relations. According to a WBD announcement, Aiyar played a key role in American Airlines’ navigation of the Covid-19 pandemic and helped reach new contracts with the company’s unionized work groups. According to her LinkedIn profile, she joined the…
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Apple’s board urges vote against anti-diversity proposal
Board argues that it and management ‘maintain active oversight of legal and regulatory risks and compliance’ Apple’s board is urging shareholders to vote at its February 25 AGM against a proposal asking the tech company to consider dropping its diversity efforts. The National Center for Public Policy Research, which filed the proposal, is one of the most active of the conservative groups that have been submitting anti-DE&I and other anti-ESG resolutions in recent years. In this case, the center directly requests in its proposal that Apple ‘consider abolishing its inclusion and diversity program, policies, department and goals.’ It notes the…
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The times they are a-changin’: the new era of institutionalized shareholder activism
The days of the old-fashioned, two-fisted activist campaigns may be numbered, writes Bruce Goldfarb The new Bob Dylan biopic,A Complete Unknown, reminds me of the Nobel laureate’s often-quoted lyric: the times they are a changin’. That metaphorically holds true relative to the trends in activism, which are shifting in form and focus, heralding the start of a new, more institutionalized era. A host of factors, including leadership transitions at high-profile activist firms, a lack of ‘low-hanging fruit’ and the tendency of company boards and their adversaries to settle rather than fight, have many in the activist world wondering if the…
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The week in GRC: Board diversity progress stalls and judge approves Tesla directors’ settlement of excess-pay case
This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters reported that, according to the study by the Conference Board and data firm Esguage, the number of new black directors at Russell 3000 companies fell to 12 percent in 2024 from 26 percent two years ago. At the same time, the number of new white directors bounced back to 69 percent, up from historic lows of 52 percent in 2022. Directors and board advisers said conservative backlash through litigation and other means had pushed diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) policies down the priority list for companies, often…
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Eaton hires successor to retiring CLO
Lucy Clark Dougherty will join the power-management company later this month Eaton Corporation has hired Lucy Clark Dougherty as general counsel, effective January 27. Dougherty will then succeed Taras Szmagala Jr as executive vice president and chief legal officer (CLO) when he retires on April 4, 2025. Dougherty will report to Paulo Ruiz, president and COO of Eaton. She is joining Eaton having most recently been senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at Polaris. In this role, she has led the company’s global legal, government relations, trade and product compliance organization. Before her time at Polaris, Dougherty held…
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SiriusXM’s long-time general counsel to retire
Patrick Donnelly has been with the radio company for almost 27 years Patrick Donnelly, SiriusXM Radio’s executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, intends to retire in early 2025, according to an SEC filing by the radio company. The filing states that to help with the transition, Donnelly will continue to be a full-time employee until April 4, 2025, after which he will become a part-time employee through December 31, 2025. After the company hires his successor he will become an adviser to the general counsel until the end of the year. According to his LinkedIn profile, Donnelly took…