Fluor Supported as Shareholders Reject Secret Vote

Stockholders of Irvine-based Fluor Corp. on Tuesday rejected a shareholder group’s proposal to make proxy voting confidential.

At the company’s annual meeting in Greenville, S.C., 65% of the ballots cast favored the company’s position of maintaining the current practice of requiring a stockholder’s signature on proxies.

Only 23% of the ballots backed the proposal by the United Shareholders Assn. and 12% abstained.

United Shareholders, which was founded in 1986 by Texas oilman and corporate raider T. Boone Pickens, has targeted Fluor as one of the 50 worst U.S. companies in protecting shareholder interests.

The majority of U.S. companies do not allow confidential proxy voting.