Merck has published a sustainability report every year for 13 years. Its website still states that the company was among the first in the U.S. to disclose its EEO-1 data and that it continues to do so annually. The report … Read More
proxy season
The Fight Over EEO-1 Isn’t Really About Paperwork
The public comment period on the EEOC’s proposal to eliminate EEO-1 reporting closed on August 24. The docket contains 2,580 comments. The overwhelming majority oppose rescission. That headline number isn’t worth much on its own: more than 1,800 submissions came through three … Read More
PayPal’s DEI Settlement, JPMorgan’s Governance Fight, and the Great Corporate Relabeling
Everything Is DEI Now The Justice Department announced a settlement this week with PayPal over its 2020 Economic Opportunity Fund, which invested in Black and minority-owned businesses. Under the settlement, PayPal will replace the program with a new initiative focused on veterans, … Read More
Disclosure Is Collapsing, Synchrony Is Winning Without RTO, and the EEOC Changes the Rules Again
Proxy Season Is Mostly Over. Meeting Season Isn’t. We’re effectively at the end of proxy reporting season. PeopleReturn has now processed nearly 2,400 Russell 3000 proxy statements filed in 2026, and the filing rush is largely behind us. But the … Read More
$158B Pay, Everyone Knows AI, and Enforcement Gets Lighter
Elon Is Finally Getting Paid Or at least, that’s what the filing would have you believe. Tesla disclosed a $158.4 billion pay package for Elon Musk, against a median employee salary of $62,786—a ratio of 2,522,203:1, easily one of the most absurd … Read More
Black Women CEOs in the S&P 500 Double, New Veteran Workforce Data, 2026 Proxy Transparency Falls
Black Women CEOs in the S&P 500 Double Last week, Dow announced that Karen Carter, the current President of Packaging and Specialty Plastics, will succeed Jim Fitterling as CEO on July 1st. She will become the first woman to lead … Read More
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, EEO-1 Data Explosion, IBM’s ‘Illegal DEI’ and Proxy Season Update
Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For Fortune released its 100 Best Companies to Work For a couple of weeks ago. It remains one of our preferred measures of external validation for corporate culture and employee sentiment for three reasons: (1) it … Read More
Proxy Season Update: Board disclosure is disappearing—40% report nothing
Nearly a quarter of the Russell 3000 has now filed, and the shift is clear: board-level disclosure is continuing to pull back—both in depth and consistency. Our board transparency score—which measures the share of demographic characteristics companies disclose—previously included LGBTQ+ … Read More
2026 Proxy Season Kickoff: Board Diversity Stalls and Disclosure Fades
Proxy season is starting to ramp up. More than 100 proxy statements have already been filed this week, with another ~200 expected next week. By April, filing volume typically accelerates to 300–400 per week. I just returned from the Council … Read More