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Resolution Details

Company:

Marriott International, Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Inclusiveness

Focus Area:

Disabilities, Race Discrimination, Racial Justice

Status:

Filed

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Shareholders urge the board of directors to oversee a third-party audit (within a reasonable time and cost) which assesses and produces recommendations for improving the civil rights impact of its policies, practices, products, and services. Input from stakeholders, including civil rights organizations, employees, and customers, should be considered in determining the specific matters to be assessed. A report on the audit, prepared at reasonable cost and omitting confidential/proprietary information, should be published on the company’s website. 

In 2020, Marriott published a statement affirming, “We believe racism should be eradicated” and states on its website that “Diversity and inclusion is fundamental to our core values and strategic business goals.”[1] Though Marriott has initiatives to address discrimination, its current actions may be insufficient to address controversies involving the company. 

Marriott is connected to allegations of employment discrimination. In September 2022, the Department of Labor found that a resort operated by Marriott in Tennessee discriminated against 250 Black, Asian, and female job applicants for housekeeping roles during 2018-2020.[2] Marriott agreed to pay $630,732 in back wages and to offer jobs to 49 affected people without admitting nor denying wrongdoing. In September 2023, Marriott was ordered to pay $20 million in damages to an employee after a jury found that reasonable disability accommodations were not made.[3] 

The alleged culture of discrimination may also affect customers. In July 2022, a Marriott patron received an invoice with an anti-Asian slur after a stay in Pennsylvania. The patron claimed that Marriott distanced itself from the incident because it occurred at a franchise and suggested the slur was a “clerical error.”[4] Current company reporting is not clear on how Marriott addresses controversies around alleged discrimination involving employees or customers. 

Marriott’s association with the alleged predatory lending of the Marriott Employees’ Federal Credit Union (MEFCU) also raises concerns. While MEFCU operates as a separate entity, its products, available through Marriott’s human resources offices, have been flagged for unusually high fees compared to peer institutions. Workers allegedly use “Mini Loans,” which have an effective rate of 46 percent inclusive of the application fee and 18 percent interest rate, to afford basic living expenses when Marriott’s fluctuating hours result in insufficient income.[5] After a class action lawsuit was filed against MEFCU in 2018, the case was settled in 2020 with MEFCU denying wrongdoing.[6] We believe that the combination of unstable schedules and providing access to high-interest loans likely perpetuates the cycle of poverty and racial inequality.

A civil rights audit would help Marriott identify, prioritize, remedy and avoid adverse impacts on marginalized communities and assist the company in effective resource allocation, while giving shareholders assurance that Marriott has adequate controls to address controversies that present risks.  

[1] https://news.marriott.com/news/2020/06/18/we-stand-against-racism 

[2] https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/ofccp/ofccp20220927

[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/jury-orders-san-francisco-marriott-marquis-to-pay-20-million-in-disability-lawsuit/

[4] https://news.yahoo.com/brooklyn-couple-receives-marriott-hotel-183018593.html

[5] https://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publications/How%20Marriotts%20Corporate%20Practices%20Fuel%20Growing%20Racial%20Inequality%20in%20America.pdf 

[6] https://www.cutimes.com/2020/08/11/credit-union-settles-members-class-action-lawsuit-for-215000/

 

 

Resolution Details

Company:

Marriott International, Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Inclusiveness

Focus Area:

Glass Ceiling, Racial Justice

Status:

On Proxy

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Myra K. Young of CorpGov.net and other shareholders request Marriott International, Inc (“Company” or “Marriott”) report on median pay gaps across race and gender, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy, and legal compliance information.

Racial/gender pay gaps are defined as the difference between non-minority and minority/male and female median earnings expressed as a percentage of non-minority/male earnings (Wikipedia/OECD, respectively).

SUPPORTING STATEMENT: An annual report adequate for investors to assess performance could, with board discretion, integrate base, bonus, and equity compensation to calculate:

· percentage median gender pay gap, globally and/or by country, where appropriate

· percentage median racial/minority/ethnicity pay gap, US and/or by country, where appropriate

WHEREAS: Pay inequities persist across race and gender. They pose substantial risks to companies and society. Black workers’ median annual earnings represent 77 percent of white wages. The median income for women working full time is 84 percent that of men. Intersecting race, Black women earn 76 percent and Latina women 63 percent.1 At the current rate, women will not reach pay equity until 2059, Black women in 2130, and Latina women in 2224.2

Citigroup estimates closing minority and gender wage gaps 20 years ago could have generated 12 trillion dollars in additional national income. PwC estimates closing the gender pay gap could boost the economies of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries by 2 trillion dollars annually.3 Actively managing pay equity is linked to superior stock performance and return on equity.4

Best practice pay equity reporting consists of two parts:

1. Unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high-paying roles,

2. Statistically adjusted gaps, assessing whether minorities and non-minorities, men and women, are paid the same for similar roles.

Marriott reports only statistically adjusted pay gaps but ignores unadjusted gaps, which address the structural bias women, and underrepresented minorities face regarding job opportunities and pay, particularly when men hold most higher-paying jobs. While we are glad, Marriott now reports adjusted pay gaps, median pay shows, quite literally, how Marriott assigns value to employees through the roles they inhabit and pay they receive. Median pay gap reporting also provides a digestible and comparable data point to determine progress over time.

Racial and gender-unadjusted median pay gaps are accepted as the valid way of measuring pay inequity by the United States Census Bureau, Department of Labor, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and International Labor Organization. The United Kingdom and Ireland mandate disclosure of median gender pay gaps.

It is also worth considering that Marriott reported a CEO pay ratio of 477 to 1.

Pay Equity Affirms Human Rights and Increases Long-Term Shareholder Value Vote FOR Racial and Gender Pay Gap Report – Proposal [4*]

1 https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html-par_textimage_24 

2 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc65db67d0c9102cca54b74/t/622f4567fae4ea772ae60492/1647265128087/Racial+Gender+Pay+Scorecard+2022+-+Arjuna+Capital.pdf 

3 Ibid. 

4 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/promoting-gender-parityin-the-global-workplace; https://www.issgovernance.com/file/publications/ISS-ESG-Gender-Diversity-Linked-to-Success.pdf 

 

 

Resolution Details

Company:

Marriott International, Inc.

Year:

2024

Issue Area:

Human Rights & Worker Rights

Focus Area:

Conflict Zones, Human Trafficking/Exploitation

Status:

Withdrawn for Agreement

Resolution Text

RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board of Directors commission an independent third-party report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, assessing the effectiveness of the company’s implementation of its Human Rights Statement (HRS) related to operations in conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA).[1]

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Shareholders seek information, at board and management discretion, through a report that: 

Discusses how human rights and financially material risks in CAHRA are assessed, mitigated, and reported upon; and
Assesses if additional policies, practices, and governance measures are needed to mitigate risks.

WHEREAS: The number and intensity of CAHRA are increasing, with the World Bank estimating that by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s poor will live in settings characterized by fragility, conflict, and violence.[2] Recent examples include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the war between Hamas and Israel, the coup in Myanmar, and the crisis in the Xinjiang Region, China.

CAHRA are characterized by widespread human rights abuses and violations of national or international law and by a higher prevalence of material risks – legal, operational, and financial – for companies and their shareholders. The International Finance Corporation notes that companies in these areas “face business risks that are much greater than those in other emerging markets,” including destruction of physical capital, deaths and injuries, weak state control, and supply chain disruptions.[3]A recent survey of 1,200 CEOs indicated 97 percent of respondents altered investment plans due to geopolitical volatility and over one-third relocated operations based on conflict-related risks.[4]

Companies failing to conduct human rights due diligence (HRDD)[5] and report on their risk mitigation efforts are exposed to potential violations of evolving laws and normative standards. National legislation and accounting standards are increasingly requiring mandatory HRDD[6] and calling on companies to report on human rights as material risks. [7][8]

Marriott’s operations include over 8,000 properties in 138 countries, including numerous CAHRA, exposing the company and shareholders to significant human rights and material risks. Examples include: Marriott’s relationship to Bangladeshi security forces and threats to local communities’ housing, cultural heritage sites, and safety in Bangladesh[9]; the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh being used by the Saudi government to detain, torture, and extort over 400 local business leaders[10]; and the joint venture by Marriott and Alibaba Group to deploy facial recognition technology in Chinese hotels despite Alibaba’s track record of working with the state to conduct surveillance of ethnic minorities.[11][12] Marriott hotels in Qatar were also connected to numerous labor rights abuses.[13]

Marriott’s Modern Slavery Statement notes, “Marriott carries out due diligence and compliance checks … before entering into relevant agreements”, however, there is no further information on if and how Marriott conducts enhanced HRDD and considers specific human rights and material risks associated with CAHRA.[14] Further information on how Marriott is conducting HRDD in CAHRA will give investors meaningful insight into their governance of these material risks.

 

[1] http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264185050-en

[2] https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/fragilityconflictviolence/overview

[3] https://www.ifc.org/en/what-we-do/sector-expertise/fragile-and-conflict-affected-situations

[4]https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_us/topics/ceo/ey-ceo-outlook-pulse-survey-january-2023-global-report.pdf

[5]  https://www.undp.org/publications/heightened-human-rights-due-diligence-business-conflict-affected-contexts-guide 

[6] https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/doing-business-eu/corporate-sustainability-due-diligence_en 

[7] https://finance.ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance/disclosures/sustainability-related-disclosure-financial-services-sector_en 

[8] http://www.entegreraporlamatr.org/tr//mailing/25122020/images/Reporting-on-enterprise-value_climate-prototype_Dec20.pdf 

[9] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/bangladesh-statement-issued-against-illegal-construction-of-marriott-resort-without-prior-informed-consent-from-mro-community/ 

[10] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/19/saudi-accounts-emerge-of-ritz-carlton-night-of-the-beating 

[11] https://news.marriott.com/news/2018/07/11/joint-venture-of-alibaba-group-and-marriott-international-trials-facial-recognition-check-in-technology 

[12] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/technology/alibaba-china-facial-recognition-uighurs.html 

[13] https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/qatar-2022-facilities-mgmt-contractor-to-world-cup-hotels-hosting-fifa-football-stars-reportedly-abusing-migrant-workers-incl-co-comments/ 

[14] https://serve360.marriott.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Marriott_Statement_2023.pdf  

 

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Resolution Details

Company:

Marriott International, Inc.

Year:

2023

Issue Area:

Inclusiveness

Focus Area:

Glass Ceiling, Workplace Equity

Status:

Vote

Vote Percentage:

23.90%

Resolution Text

Resolved: Myra K. Young of CorpGov.net and other shareholders, request Marriott International, Inc. (“Company” or “Marriott”) report annually on unadjusted median and adjusted pay gaps across race and gender globally and/or by country, where appropriate, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy, and legal compliance information.

Racial/gender pay gaps are the difference between non-minority and minority/male and female median earnings expressed as a percentage of non-minority/male earnings.

Supporting Statement: Pay inequities persist across race and gender. They pose substantial risks to companies and society. Black workers’ hourly median earnings represent 64% of white wages. Median income for women working full time is 83% of that of men.[1] Intersecting race, Black women earn 63%, Native women 60%, and Latina women 55%.[2]  At the current rate, women will not reach pay equity until 2059, Black women 2130, and Latina women 2224.[3]

Citigroup estimated closing minority and gender wage gaps 20 years ago could have generated 12 trillion dollars in additional national income.[4] PwC estimates closing the gender pay gap could boost OECD economies by $2 trillion annually.[5] Actively managing pay equity is linked to superior stock performance and return on equity.[6]

Best practice includes:
1. unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high-paying roles,
2. statistically adjusted gaps, assessing whether minorities and non-minorities, men and women, are paid the same for similar roles.

Over 20 percent of the 100 largest U.S. employers currently report adjusted gaps, and an increasing number of companies disclose unadjusted gaps to address the structural bias women and minorities face regarding job opportunity and pay.[7] Marriott reports neither.

Racial and gender unadjusted median pay gaps are accepted as the valid way of measuring pay inequity by the United States Census Bureau, Department of Labor, OECD, and International Labor Organization.[8] The United Kingdom and Ireland mandate disclosure of median pay gaps, and the United Kingdom is considering racial pay reporting.

An annual report adequate for investors to assess performance could integrate base, bonus and equity compensation to calculate:
• percentage median and adjusted gender pay gap, globally and/or by country
• percentage median and adjusted racial/minority/ethnicity pay gap, U.S. and/or by country

It is also worth considering that Marriot reported a CEO pay ratio of 506 to 1.

[1] https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/fair-pay/americas-women-and-the-wage-gap.pdf

[2] https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2021/09/AAUW_SimpleTruth_2021_-fall_update.pdf

[3] https://iwpr.org/iwpr-publications/quick-figure/the-gender-pay-gap-1985-to-2020-with-forecast-for-achieving-pay-equity-by-race-and-ethnicity/

[4]  https://ir.citi.com/NvIUklHPilz14Hwd3oxqZBLMn1_XPqo5FrxsZD0x6hhil84ZxaxEuJUWmak51UHvYk75VKeHCMI%3D

[5] https://www.pwc.com/hu/en/kiadvanyok/assets/pdf/women-in-work-2021-executive-summary.pdf

[6] https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/promoting-gender-parity-in-the-global-workplace ; https://www.issgovernance.com/file/publications/ISS-ESG-Gender-Diversity-Linked-to-Success.pdf

[7] https://diversiq.com/which-sp-500-companies-disclose-gender-pay-equity-data/

[8]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc65db67d0c9102cca54b74/t/622f4567fae4ea772ae60492/1647265128087/Racial+Gender+Pay+Scorecard+2022+-+Arjuna+Capital.pdf

  

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