AT&T Sued by New York City Pension Funds Over Diversity Data Transparency

AT&T is facing legal action from four New York City public pension funds alleging the company improperly blocked a shareholder vote on a proposal requesting detailed workforce demographic data. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, in Manhattan federal court, centers on AT&T’s decision to exclude a proposal that would require the company to disclose the breakdown of its 133,000-person workforce by race, ethnicity, and gender.

Shareholder Proposal and SEC Policy

The pension funds argue that AT&T cited a recent policy change by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to justify excluding the proposal. This SEC policy allows companies to exclude shareholder proposals if they claim a “reasonable basis” for doing so. However, the funds contend that the SEC regulations do not provide justification for AT&T to block a vote on their proposal at the 2026 annual shareholder meeting, causing “irreparable” injury.

Previous Disclosure and Current Stance

According to the complaint, AT&T previously disclosed this workforce diversity breakdown annually to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The company also publicly shared this data between 2021 and 2023 but ceased doing so in 2024 without explanation. While AT&T continues to report this data to the EEOC, the pension funds argue that public disclosure is crucial for transparency, and accountability.

Plaintiffs and Legal Action

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, and funds representing police, teachers, and other educational employees. They are seeking a court order to prevent AT&T from soliciting shareholder proxies that exclude their proposal, effectively forcing the company to set the matter to a vote.

Broader Context of Shareholder Proposals

Hundreds of companies routinely request assurances from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance that they will not face enforcement actions if they exclude shareholder proposals. Historically, the SEC has granted permission in approximately half of these cases.

Company Response

As of the filing of the lawsuit, AT&T and a spokesperson for New York City Comptroller Mark Levine have not provided comments on the matter.

Source: Yahoo Finance, Stocktwits, Bloomberg Law