SUPPORTING STATEMENT: DSG defines their employees as "teammates": "We are committed to creating a workplace environment and culture that supports, celebrates and honors each individual and to promoting inclusion for all teammates. Doing so strengthens our ability to serve all of our athletes, drives innovation and growth, and enables us to attract and retain the best talent." They further proclaim: "We have committed to increasing diversity at all levels of our organization."1
We also believe that employees of color and women can contribute to improved company performance. In 2020, a McKinsey study found that companies in the top quartile of gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability than peer company diversity laggards, and that there is an even higher likelihood of outperformance among companies with more ethnically diverse executive teams.2
The EEO-I Report breaks down a company's U.S. workforce by race, ethnicity and gender according to IO employment categories, including senior management, defined to incorporate individuals within two reporting levels of the CEO.
DSG discloses aggregate percentages of women and separately, of "BIPOC" for all teammates.3 EEO-1 Report disclosure, however, would provide investors with more consistent information, in a decision-useful format, including:
nStandardized, quantitative, and reliable data that is comparable across companies and industries, enabling investors to assess the representation of employees of color and women at various levels of DSG;
nSpecific data on senior management diversity; and
nParticularized data that allows investors to assess the representation of specific racial and ethnic groups by gender, such as Black female employees, in a job category - and to make meaningful, year-over-year comparisons.
Disclosure of its EEO- I Report is a cost-effective means for DSG to demonstrate diversity performance. DSG already collects the data and submits it to the EEOC. The proposal neither prevents nor discourages DSG from disclosing any other information that management believes reflect its organizational structure or demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
EEO-I Report disclosure will bring DSG into line with virtually all S&P 100 companies, and nearly 400 of the S&P 500 companies, which disclose or have committed to disclose their EEO-I Report, including acknowledged peers, Advanced Auto Parts and Ross Stores, as well as companies such as BlackRock and Intel.
Other shareholders have agreed. In 2021, New York City Retirement Systems' EEO-1 shareholder proposals at DuPont and Union Pacific received 84% and 86% support, respectively.
We ask shareholders to vote FOR this proposal.