Royal Philips shareholders voiced their displeasure with management’s handling of the company’s massive respiratory device recall at the annual meeting this week.
Shareholders voted down a proposal to relieve the board of management of liability, keeping the potential for investor lawsuits related to the Philips Respironics recall on the table.
“This follows the voting guidance from certain proxy advisors to signal discontent in respect of one former member of the Board of Management,” the company said in a news release, without naming that member.
“We appreciate the support expressed by the shareholders regarding current management and direction of Philips,” Royal Philips Supervisory Board Chair Feike Sijbesma said in the release. “Under the leadership of its new CEO Roy Jakobs, Philips is fully focused on implementing the plan to create value with sustainable impact for our shareholders and all other stakeholders.”
Jakobs replaced longtime CEO Frans van Houten last year as Class I recalls – the most serious kind — mounted, and the company disclosed negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Timeline: How Philips’ significant respiratory devices recall unfolded
Philips said this week that it is executing on its plan for “three priorities to improve execution by enhancing patient safety & quality, strengthening its supply chain reliability, and establishing a simplified, more agile operating model.”
