A leader on corporate social responsibility, Whole Foods lags on corporate governance by stymieing shareowner democracy.

SocialFunds.com—Shareowner activists suffered a setback on Monday at the annual meeting of Whole Foods Market (ticker: WFMI) when the company widely admired as a leader on corporate social responsibility (CSR) silenced shareowners. Instead of allowing shareowners to present their resolutions when the item came up on the formal agenda included in the proxy, the company shuffled discussion of resolutions to the informal question and answer session, after votes on resolutions had been counted. Indeed, the company’s webcast of the meeting ends abruptly after CEO John Mackey announces that all three shareowner resolutions “failed,” with no word from shareowners included in the audio file.

“Given that the annual shareholder meeting is the one time each year that top executives and directors have to show up and be accountable to shareholders, it is unconscionable for companies not to allow proponents to make a short statement in support of their proposals,” said Beth Young, senior research associate for The Corporate Library (TCL), which assesses corporate governance. TCL recently downgraded Whole Foods from “A” to “C” on its Board Effectiveness Rating, which covers “shareholder responsiveness.” “Of course, companies need to ensure that their annual meetings will be orderly and don’t run on for eight hours, but reasonable time limits and limits on numbers of questions can meet those goals.”