United Parcel Service (UPS)

Georgia
Transportation

Corprate Bias Ratings

Risk Level:

Rating - Caution
Medium Risk

United Parcel Service (UPS) vets vendors according to LGBTQ policies and does not provide its employees with protections against viewpoint discrimination, but has not publicly terminated business relationships based on views or beliefs. UPS once fired an employee due to their hair length and eventually settled the lawsuit for alleged religious discrimination and has since amended this policy. The company is a Platinum Corporate Sponsor of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the UPS Foundation gave $250,000 to the HRC. UPS pledged over $10 million to BLM and related causes, supports the Equality Act, and is a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. The company is a signatory of the Business Roundtable's 2019 Statement on the Purpose of Corporation, which promotes stakeholder capitalism. However, the company does not discriminate against religious organizations in its charitable giving and has not used it PAC contributions for ideological purposes. For these reasons, UPS receives a "Medium Risk" rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

UPS has a written policy requiring suppliers not to discriminate on the basis of LGBTQ identity and received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the HRC (1). In 2019, UPS reached a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a 2015 incident where UPS was accused of firing or not hiring employees who would not cut their hair due to religious beliefs (2). The company has since amended this policy and is under the guidance of new leadership.

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

UPS does not appear to discriminate against religious groups regarding its charitable giving (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

UPS does not protect its employees from viewpoint discrimination in its nondiscrimination policy (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

UPS has come out in support of the Equality Act and has regularly used press releases to support ideological agendas (1)(2)(3). Former CEO David Abney signed its 2019 Statement on the Purpose of Corporation, which promotes stakeholder capitalism over traditional obligations to shareholders and customers (4).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

UPS is a Platinum Sponsor of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC); the UPS Foundation, which is entirely funded by UPS, donated $250,000 to HRC (1)(2). UPS has pledged over $10 million to the Black Lives Matter movement and related causes (3)(4)(5). The company is a corporate partner of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (6).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

The UPS corporate PAC does not use its funds for ideological purposes (1).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
May 24, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

Voting History

Date
ESG Category
Proponent
Summary of ResolutionMgmt RecTotal Vote % in Favor
5/4/23SocialAs You Sow on behalf of Myra K. YoungShareholder Proposal Requesting Annual Diversity and Inclusion Efforts ReportAgainst25.00%
5/5/22SocialMercy Investment ServicesReport on Lobbying Alignment with Paris Climate AgreementAgainst32.66%
5/5/22GovernanceJohn CheveddenGive Each Share an Equal VoteAgainst32.49%
5/5/22SocialBoston Trust Walden Co.Report on Lobbying Payments and PolicyAgainst29.21%
5/5/22EnvironmentalGreen Century Capital ManagementAdopt Verified Science-Based GhG Emissions Reduction TargetsAgainst27.52%
5/5/22EnvironmentalMyra K. YoungReport on Balancing Climate Measures and Financial ReturnsAgainst9.73%
5/5/22SocialAs You SowReport on Effectivness of Diversity Equity and Inclusion Efforts and MetricsAgainst36.21%
Generate Reports
Clear
Toast