Shareholder Activism: Fifth Third Bank Makes It Tough for Social Advocates: Discrimination based...

Fifth Third Bancorp faced a proxy vote in its annual meeting this year that small and mid-tier banks would be wise to heed. A proposal from Boston's NorthStar Asset Management called for a bank policy that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation is the one type of discrimination not prohibited by federal statutes, which will prompt more shareholders to take up the fight on this issue in coming years, says Nell Minnow, editor at watchdog The Corporate Library.

NorthStar and other social activists say that companies of all size