Walmart Shareholders Fail Racial Equity Audit Proposal for a Third Time

The third time was not the charm for United for Respect Education Fund.

The non-profit filed a shareholder proposal asking Walmart to undergo a third-party, independent racial equity audit focused on analyzing the company’s impact on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Per the proposal, once completed, Walmart should share the results publicly on its website.

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“Given its worker demographics and scale, we request Walmart assess its behavior through a racial equity lens to obtain a complete picture of how it contributes to, and could help dismantle, social and economic inequality,” the filers wrote in their proposal. “A racial equity audit would help Walmart identify, remedy and avoid adverse impacts on nonwhite stakeholders, communities of color and long-term diversified shareholders. Failure to effectively address inequities in its operations exposes stakeholders, including employees, to unacceptable abuses and exposes Walmart to risks that may ultimately affect shareholder long-term value.”

According to Walmart’s 2024 Mid-Year Belonging Report, people of color make up 51 percent of its U.S. workforce.

United for Respect Education Fund filed similar proposals in 2023 and 2024. But this time around, part of the importance for the group and its co-filers was the fact that Walmart, like several other major companies, announced late last year that it would roll back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts in favor of a theme of “belonging.”

Ultimately, the filers’ argument proved unsuccessful in swaying shareholders’ minds. In 2023, the proposal garnered 18.1 percent of shareholder votes; in 2024, that proportion declined to 15.4 percent. This year, the proposal received 6.9 percent of shareholder votes, according to a vote result announcement from Walmart’s Thursday shareholder meeting. That’s down 8.5 percentage points from last year.

Like in previous years, Walmart recommended shareholders vote against the proposal.

“The Board recommends shareholders vote against these proposals because we already disclose substantial information on our people strategies, providing information about our business rationale, key metrics, progress, Board oversight and approach to continuous improvement based on stakeholder feedback and results,” the company published in its 2025 proxy statement.