Reuters: Verizon Takes Hard Line on Surveillance Vote

On December 12, 2013, Reuters published a story about the response from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) to a shareholder proposal that Trillium recently filed which asks the company to publish a semi-annual report detailing how often they have shared information with U.S. or foreign governments and what type of customer information has been shared.

Ross Kerber writes:

“Verizon Communications Inc told activist investors on Wednesday that it might skip a vote on a shareholder proposal that seeks details on the company’s cooperation with government surveillance efforts.

Verizon’s law firm Jones Day said in a Nov. 25 letter that the company would exclude the measure from its 2014 proxy statement unless the activists did more to verify their eligibility to file the proposal.

The company’s response appears to be more aggressive than the stance AT&T Inc took against a similar proposal, said Jonas Kron, senior vice president for Trillium Asset Management, a co-filer of the measures at both telecommunications companies.”

You can read the entire article here.