WILKES-BARRE, Pa., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- At Lakeland Industries,
Inc.'s ("Company") (Nasdaq: LAKE) annual meeting on June 16, 2010 in Ronkonkoma, NY, shareholders will vote on a
proposal asking the Company to declassify its Board of Directors
and thereby allowing shareholders to vote on all directors every
year. Basically, the proposal requests that the Board change
the present staggered board policy that provides for one third of
Directors to be elected each year and instead requires that all
Directors be elected annually.
The proposal was submitted by Seymour
Holtzman ("Holtzman"), a shareholder activist, who is a
large shareholder of Lakeland Industries. Mr. Holtzman stated
that he believes "shareholders should have the opportunity to vote
on the performance of the entire board each year. I look forward to
meeting shareholders at the annual meeting and further explaining
why I believe the change to the Board of Directors is needed."
The proposal has been endorsed by RiskMetrics Group, Inc., one
of the largest proxy voting services in the U.S., which recommends
a FOR vote. RiskMetrics Group states in its report that, "The
ability to elect directors is the single most important use of the
shareholder franchise, and all directors should be accountable on
an annual basis. A classified board can entrench management and
effectively preclude most takeover bids or proxy contests. Board
classification forces dissidents and would-be acquirers to
negotiate with the incumbent board, which has the authority to
decide on offers without a shareholder vote." Mr. Holtzman said, "I
am delighted that RiskMetrics Group has supported our
proposal."
If the majority of the shareholders vote to support
declassifying the Company's Board of Directors, Mr. Holtzman
sincerely hopes that the Board of Directors takes immediate action
to declassify the Board of Directors so all directors will be
subject to election at next year's Annual Meeting.
SOURCE Seymour Holtzman