APPLE INVESTORS URGE COMPANY TO UNDERGO CIVIL RIGHTS AUDIT

Apple’s shareholders have approved a proposal urging the iPhone maker to undergo an independent audit assessing its treatment of female and minority employees, delivering a rare rebuke to a management team that runs the world’s most valuable company.

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The measure passed last week during Apple’s annual meeting is nonbinding, so the Cupertino, California, company isn’t required to adopt the recommendation.

But rebuffing the wishes of its shareholders would thrust Apple into an uncomfortable position, especially since the company has long cast itself as a champion of civil rights. CEO Tim Cook reiterated that belief in response to a question from a shareholder during the meeting held remotely.

“I have long believed that inclusion and diversity are essential in their own right,” Cook said. “And that a diversity of people, experiences and ideas is the foundation for any new innovation.”

Like other major technology companies, Apple’s workforce — particularly in high-paid technical positions — consists primarily of white and Asian men, an imbalance that the industry has been trying to address for many years.

Apple’s board had pushed against the shareholder proposal seeking a civil rights audit that eventually be made public. The company pointed to its recent strides in civil rights inside and outside Apple that have made a third-party audit of its practices unnecessary.