Westfield - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Westfield is Medium Risk.

Westfield is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Westfield occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Lower Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled 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:

Lower

Rationale:

Westfield has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (1).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Westfield does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs. Its charitable giving areas are families, disaster recovery, and safety (1). Westfield does not have an employee matching program at this time (2).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Westfield offers its leaders a DEI handbook (1). Westfield does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Westfield supports DEI within its business practices, establishing a DEI Office. Westfield is working “to integrate DEI into our operations with agents, customers, employees, community, and suppliers”. Westfield has also released a series of podcasts promoting DEI in the workplace such as “Why Insurance Agencies Should Embrace Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” (1). Westfield employs a Diversity and Inclusion Operations Leader and a Corporate Responsibility & Diversity Officer (2)(3). Westfield published a DEI video series on its website (4). The company’s President, Edward J. Largent III, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace, strategize on DEI programs/initiatives with other signatories, and engage boards of directors when developing and evaluating DEI strategies (5)(6). Westfield stated that “D&I is a company priority shared by all, not simply an HR initiative” (7).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Westfield donated $25,000 to the Akron Urban League in 2019, $100,000 in 2020, $50,857 in 2021, and $30,847 in 2022 (1)(2)(3)(4). Westfield donated $80,435 to the Urban League of Greater Cleveland in 2021 and $102,175 in 2022 (5)(6). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Westfield using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (7).