Group Alleges That Pharma Giant Has No Legal Grounds for Excluding Resolution to Promote Transparency in Animal Research
For Immediate Release:
April 21, 2011
Contact:
Robbyn Brooks 202-483-7382
Washington — PETA filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that Whitehouse Station, N.J.–based Merck's exclusion of PETA's shareholder proposal—calling for transparency in the company's use of animals—is a violation of federal securities laws and regulations. PETA has owned Merck stock for 2.5 years and filed its resolution with Merck nearly a full month before the deadline to do so—but Merck refused to include PETA's shareholder proposal in its April 13 proxy statement. PETA is seeking an injunction that would compel Merck to include its resolution in the company's 2011 proxy materials or require Merck to hold a special shareholder meeting for the sole purpose of considering PETA's resolution.
"Shareholders have a right to vote on important animal welfare issues that may affect their investments," says Jessica Sandler, PETA's Director of Regulatory Testing. Merck has an ethical and fiscal responsibility to ensure that as few animals as possible suffer in its laboratories."
PETA's resolution calls on Merck to issue an annual report disclosing the number and species of all animals used in-house and at contract research laboratories. PETA notes that transparency in animal research would help prevent egregious animal abuse such as that found in Merck contract laboratory Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS). A PETA undercover investigator at PLRS videotaped workers cursing at animals, kicking them, violently slamming them into cages, and leaving them to suffer without veterinary care. In the wake of PETA's documentation, PLRS closed. A criminal investigation of the laboratory is ongoing.
Merck failed to explain to PETA or the Securities and Exchange Commission why PETA's resolution, filed on November 17, 2010, was excluded from the proxy materials, referring only to a prior resolution PETA had previously voluntarily withdrawn. According to PETA counsel Susan Hall, "Merck is in violation of securities law protecting shareholders' most important rights."
A copy of PETA's lawsuit against Merck is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETA.org.