Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP, a national securities firm in New York City, is investigating the Board of Directors of Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. (NYS: AIT). It’s claiming potential breaches of fiduciary duties in connection with seeking shareholder approval of the compensation for the distributor’s executive officers.

Download a Free Chapter: The Little Black Book of Strategic Planning for Distributors Submit your email address below to receive a chapter of Brent Grover’s new book. When you submit your email you will be signed up to receive weekly distribution news updates.

In the SEC filing filed Sept. 7, 2012, Applied outlined its executive compensation program and noted that the program was overwhelmingly approved by shareholders last year in an advisory vote.

“We believe that our corporate governance policies, including our executive compensation program, should be responsive to shareholder concerns,” according to the filing. “This belief is reflected in a nonbinding, advisory vote that provides shareholders the opportunity to approve the named executive officers' compensation as disclosed in our proxy statement, including, among other things, our executive compensation objectives, policies, and practices. The Board has adopted an annual vote, which was our shareholders' preference as expressed at last year's annual meeting.”

Faruqi & Faruqi, LLP is a national law firm which represents investors and individuals in class action litigation.