OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Stockholder proposals typically go off without incident at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. But Warren Buffett and the company are currently facing a lawsuit over the treatment of one of its presenters last year.
After Peter Flaherty of the National Law and Policy Center was interrupted in the middle of a presentation and arrested for trespassing last year, he returned with another proposal on a different topic this year. The charges were later dropped, but Mr. Flaherty decided to sue because of his attitude of siding with shareholders seeking proposals. He said he has never had trouble in the dozens of meetings he has attended since 2005, including Berkshire's 2022 meeting.
“I've never been interrupted during a shareholder presentation. I've never had my microphone cut off, I've never been kicked out of a conference room. And I've certainly never been arrested.” “Those things were unprecedented for me,” Flaherty said.
The issue last year was that Mr. Flaherty questioned the character of one of Mr. Buffett's close friends, former Berkshire board member Bill Gates. Flaherty said Buffett's close relationship with Gates could damage Berkshire's reputation due to reports that Gates had an affair with Jeffrey Epstein before his arrest for sex trafficking. suggested. So he suggested that Berkshire keep Buffett as CEO but give someone else the title of chairman.
Buffett has donated billions of dollars to Gates' foundation over the years and plans to give the bulk of his fortune to Gates.
Berkshire did not immediately respond to the federal lawsuit filed Friday, and the matter was not mentioned at Saturday's meeting. Berkshire officials did not address any proposals during the meeting, instead relying on statements of opposition submitted in the official meeting proxy.
Buffett remained silent during business talks Saturday after spending the day answering shareholder questions during the main portion of the shareholder meeting. He handed over leadership to his eventual successor, Vice Chairman Greg Abel. He simply reminded presenters about all six proposals to leave comments related to their proposals.
Flaherty's proposal was one of six rejected at this year's Berkshire meeting. All of these are opposed by the board, and Mr. Buffett still controls about a third of the votes, so anything he opposes is almost certain to fail. None of his proposals received more than 85,000 votes. Flaherty's proposal received only 6,150 votes, compared to 443,544 votes against.
Other proposals rejected Saturday included one that would have required Berkshire to produce a report on climate change risks and diversity and inclusion efforts at the giant conglomerate. Another proposal called for Berkshire to create a board committee focused on rail safety.
Jared Cassity, safety director for SMART-TD, a railroad union that represents conductors and other railroad workers, said Berkshire's board of directors should not be concerned about safety if BNSF wants to claim that safety is the railroad's top priority. He said there should be a focus on staffing and operational practices to ensure safety. Norfolk Southern prevents derailments like the tragic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, last year.
“Rail safety requires effective board oversight,” Cassity said.
Berkshire argued that BNSF is already focused on improving safety and does not need more oversight.
Regarding other proposals, Berkshire officials argued that such reports would be burdensome and unnecessary because of the decentralized way the company operates. Additionally, some of its subsidiaries, such as its large utilities division, already produce reports on their greenhouse gas emissions, Berkshire said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Flaherty was allowed to advocate for Berkshire to produce a report on the risks of doing business in China, but the proposal was quickly rejected.
“China poses unique risks for Berkshire Hathaway,” Flaherty said, arguing that the company's existing disclosures about its subsidiaries, such as Fruit of the Loom, which have factories in China, are inadequate.
