WILMINGTON, Del. – In partnership with co-counsel from top legal firm Boyden Gray, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday against Airbnb. Filed on behalf of The Heritage Foundation and the American Conservative Values ETF, the lawsuit alleges that Airbnb ignored two separate shareholder resolutions that should have been included on the company’s proxy ballot at its upcoming June 4 meeting.
Following all protocols from both the company and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Heritage and ACVF submitted separate shareholder resolutions via FedEx in December 2024. Even though both packages were signed for by the same Airbnb mailroom employee—on separate dates—by the filing deadline, neither resolution appeared on Airbnb’s proxy ballot when it was released in late April. ADF attorneys, Heritage, and ACVF contacted Airbnb representatives almost a month ahead of its annual meeting, but Airbnb said it never received the resolutions. Instead, Airbnb, whose chief legal officer previously served as White House Chief of Staff for President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2023, suggested that FedEx had forged the signatures.
“Airbnb’s ‘lost in the mail’ excuse is a new low,” said ADF Senior Counsel Alexandra Gaiser. “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 accommodate the shareholders’ requests to remedy the situation in any way. Meanwhile, a resolution filed by a left-leaning shareholder appears on the company’s ballot, casting further doubt on Airbnb’s claims.
Heritage, which owns over $40,000 in Airbnb stock, had filed a resolution highlighting the company’s long track record of political divestment. In 2018, for example, Airbnb buckled to an outside pressure campaign by de-listing Israeli-owned rental properties in the West Bank. Although the company reversed course in the following year, Heritage’s proposal observed that Airbnb is again facing similar pressure. Heritage’s proposal calls upon the board to issue an annual report to shareholders analyzing the legal and reputational risks of bowing to the “profoundly anti-business activism” represented by the “Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions” movement.
ACVF owns over $25,000 in Airbnb stock and submitted a resolution calling on the company to issue a report on how its terms of use policies can negatively impact shareholder value. As the resolution points out, every one of the digital services providers scored by ADF’s 2024 Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index—including Airbnb—relies on broad and easily weaponizable terms like “misinformation,” “hate speech,” “intolerance,” or “reputational risk” that set the table for discrimination against customers. In Airbnb’s case, its policy prohibiting users who are “leaders of hate groups” or engage in speech that company employees can deem “hateful” has led to negative media attention after the company blocked Michelle Malkin as well as Laura Southern and her family members from using the service.
“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.”
The lawsuit, The Heritage Foundation v. Airbnb, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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