Did Home Depot’s Board Misuse Company Time and Assets?

On Thursday, National Legal and Policy Center presented a proposal at The Home Depot, Inc.’s annual shareholder meeting that would require nominees for the board of directors to disclose their past campaign and charitable donations, so that shareholders could be more fully informed about how they might govern the company and oversee its assets.

The company’s board of directors opposed our proposal, as explained on pages 29-31 in its proxy statement.

Speaking as sponsor of the resolution was Paul Chesser, director of NLPC’s Corporate Integrity Project. His three-minute remarks, which you can listen to here, follow:

Item 4 requests candidates for the board to disclose their political and charitable donations, in order to give Home Depot investors a more informed understanding of how they might govern the Company and oversee its assets.

 

I have an example of why campaign finance disclosure is needed.

 

This information is public and can be found online by anyone in Federal Election Commission records, if they’re willing to dig around.

 

Why did an obscure Democrat candidate in a five-way primary race for Governor of tiny Rhode Island receive thousands of dollars from Home Depot’s directors, executives, and employees?

 

The 2022 candidacy of Helena Foulkes generated these donations.

 

The reason why is obvious: Ms. Foulkes previously served on Home Depot’s board.

 

Ms. Foulkes received multiple one-thousand-dollar donations from Home Depot board members, from some of their wives, and from company executives.

 

All of these one-thousand-dollar donations occurred in late 2021 or early 2022.

 

Ms. Foulkes resigned from Home Depot’s board on October 12^th, 2021.

 

The very next day she received her first one-thousand dollar donation from a fellow Home Depot director, Gerard Arpey.

 

Of Home Depot’s 10 American directors or their wives who are eligible to donate to U.S. campaigns, NINE of them donated to Helena Foulkes.

 

By my count, they gave Ms. Foulkes a total of $17,000 in 17 individual one-thousand-dollar donations.

 

And Ted Decker’s predecessor as Chairman/CEO, Craig Menear, gave her two one-thousand-dollar donations during this time.

 

Mr. Decker himself gave her one one-thousand dollar donation.

 

And I found an additional $12,000 in donations from Home Depot executives and employees – all in those exact one-thousand-dollar increments.

 

So we’re close to $30,000 in total donations from Home Depot people.

 

Many of the donations were from those who don’t politically give much at all – just to Helena Foulkes!

 

So we deserve an answer about how Home Depot directors are using shareholder resources.

 

The exact-same amounts, and the timing, smacks of coordination and electioneering, almost certainly on Company time with Company resources.

 

Did Ms. Foulkes use Company resources and communications to solicit contributions to her upcoming campaign before she left?

 

Did Board Members twist arms to generate donations from employees or from each other for a colleague?

 

Shareholder proponents are consistently told that if their proposals are implemented that they would be “a waste of shareholder resources.”

 

The overwhelming evidence here strongly points to similar waste, and abuse of privilege.

 

Please vote FOR Item 4.

Read NLPC’s resolution for The Home Depot’s annual shareholder meeting here.

Listen to Chesser’s three-minute remarks presenting the proposal here.