Airbnb discriminated against two conservative organizations in an effort to keep up political appearances and leftist shareholder support, a lawsuit alleges.
Alliance Defending Freedom and Boyden Gray, a law and strategy firm, filed a lawsuit against Airbnb on June 2 for its discrimination against The Heritage Foundation and the American Conservative Values ETF. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, accuses Airbnb of failing to report two separate shareholder resolutions, both submitted in December 2024.
Prior to a company meeting on June 4, Airbnb released its shareholder ballot, a summary of requests and feedback for stockholders to evaluate and reference as they voted on corporate and board decisions. In its most recent ballot, Airbnb excluded Heritage and ACVF’s resolutions but “includ[ed] a proposal from Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, a liberal-leaning fund that openly supports initiatives like Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG),” according to Heritage’s press release.
Heritage and ACVF Oppose Leftist, Anti-Israel Politics
ACVF, an exchange-traded fund that protects conservative values, opposes business activism in divisive political issues because of the negative effect on shareholders, customers, and employees.
“ACVF strongly believes the economic tool of denying companies capital is a powerful and immediate impetus for management to focus on business,” ACVF’s website says. “ACVF refuses to invest in the companies most at risk to the ‘woke/liberal agenda’ and what we believe is a wasteful misallocation of investors’ capital. Our belief is that shareholder advocacy can positively impact the long term corporate performance of the companies we do own.”
ACVF, which owns more than $447,000 in Airbnb stock, submitted a proposal pressing Airbnb to approve a report that analyzed the risks of religious or political discrimination in the company, according to the lawsuit.
Heritage, in its shareholder proposal, asked Airbnb to ignore leftist pressure that advocates withdrawing Airbnb from Israel. One source of such pressure is the anti-Israel “Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions” movement, which engages in “profoundly anti-business activism,” according to ADF’s news report.
Lost in the Mail?
Heritage received a FedEx receipt signed by an Airbnb employee indicating that its proposal had been received, according to Heritage’s press release. The same Airbnb mailroom employee also signed ACVF’s proposal on a separate day, but Airbnb claimed both were lost in the mail, according to ADF’s news report.
“Airbnb’s ‘lost in the mail’ excuse is a new low,” ADF Senior Counsel Alexandra Gaiser said in the report. “While Airbnb speaks about tolerance and diversity, its actions show that its leadership is intolerant to views represented by more than half the country. Companies that want to hide from shareholder transparency are free to appeal to legal avenues to scuttle resolutions, but they aren’t free to lie to investors. That’s not just wrong, it’s illegal.”
Airbnb refused to fix the ballot despite both the Heritage Foundation and ACVF making appeals in April. Airbnb will hold a company meeting on June 4 and will apparently ignore the two shareholder proposals.
Airbnb ‘Ignored the Law’
Andrew Olivastro, chief advancement officer at The Heritage Foundation, said Airbnb broke the law by failing to notify Heritage and ACVF of its exclusion of both proposals.
“SEC rules require companies to notify shareholders and allow a response if a proposal is excluded. Airbnb ignored those rules and ignored the law,” Olivastro said. “It makes you wonder what other legal corners Airbnb may have cut. Heritage and ADF are suing to make one thing clear: shareholder rights aren’t subject to mood or politics — they’re protected by law.”
In the joint lawsuit, Boyden Gray represents Heritage, and ADF represents ACVF. Both Heritage and ACVF seek “injunctive, declaratory, and monetary relief in connection with the wrongful exclusion of the Proposals from the 2025 Proxy Materials,” the lawsuit says.
Airbnb’s illegal behavior not only threatens conservative organizations such as Heritage, but also concerns all shareholders because of the company’s potentially illegal and deceitful conduct.
“Airbnb is openly subverting shareholder democracy and violating the law, and it’s doing so at great risk to every shareholder in the company,” Gaiser said. “It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to steer Airbnb’s leadership in the right direction, but we’re hopeful that this brings about lasting and meaningful change that will truly benefit every Airbnb investor.”
Leftist Ideology Has Infiltrated Business
Despite the recent business retreats from much leftist propaganda, organizations such as Airbnb still succumb to ideologist narratives and pressure. For years, Christian and conservative organizations thought silence would win them the compassion and grace award. Instead, leftist propaganda stifled them.
Now organizations like Heritage and ACVF are fighting back instead of keeping quiet and allowing bigger, richer companies to sidestep the law and discriminate against conservative organizations.
“By calling for transparency, fairness, and neutrality, Heritage is rallying Americans to demand that businesses prioritize merit and ethics over divisive agendas,” Heritage’s press release said.
Jesus Christ is King
Comments are closed.