Not likely a board decision. Management decision. Boards don’t operate the companies; they hire and fire management based on how they operate the company, it’s called governance. And it’s a bad career decision to put wokeness ahead of profits. Companies should be apolitical if at all possible and risk being hated by all, instead of deliberately distancing itself from half of its customers. You say they’re exercising free will, and you applaud their ability to be able to do so. I’m not saying that’s wrong, I’m just saying managing out of fear is like a coach playing “not to lose”, instead of “to win”. It’s not a sound business decision and the board should care because these actions can do permanent harm to a company’s reputation and profitability, maybe even threaten it’s very survival. It’s also a bad business decision because history shows that companies that respect their employees are more productive than companies who treat their employees like children.

spez: if the BOD is woke, and the managers are just trying to keep their jobs, I can’t blame them, but those boards need to decide what the purpose of the organization is. If it’s profits, then coercing management to operate the company from a woke perspective is a dereliction of board duty, for which they should be removed from the board and may risk financial liability.