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Lincare balks at appeal to diversify board

By Scott Barancik, Times Staff writer
Published April 6, 2007

All five directors of Lincare Holdings Inc. are white men, and they're resisting a push to make the board more diverse.

In a letter Thursday, Lincare urged shareholders to vote "no" on a resolution that would require the Clearwater oxygen distributor to consider female or minority candidates for board openings.

Calvert Group, a Bethesda, Md., family of socially responsible mutual funds that owns 28,320 shares in Lincare, submitted the resolution after Lincare ignored a request to talk.

"Imposing gender and minority requirements ... will unduly restrict" the board and "not necessarily result in the selection of the best" candidates, Lincare wrote. The 9,000-employee company's annual meeting will be held May 7.

Shareholder resolutions are a form of tough love for Calvert, which only invests in companies that meet its financial and social-responsibility goals.

Calvert submitted similar resolutions to three other companies this year that, like Lincare, appear to lag in diversity. All of the proposals except Lincare's were subsequently revoked.

"We are happy to withdraw resolutions when we're able to dialogue with companies and reach agreement," said Calvert analyst Lora McCray.

[Last modified April 5, 2007, 23:17:23]