A federal judge in Florida says Target will have to face a lawsuit from a shareholder over the fallout from its sales of LGBTQ-themed merchandise last year. The suit accuses Target of misleading shareholders about the retail giant’s efforts to protect the company from social and political risks.
The conservative group America First Legal is headed by President-elect Donald Trump’s close adviser Stephen Miller. The group filed the lawsuit on behalf of a shareholder after Target’s Pride Month merchandise sales led to a customer boycott.
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They allege the company overlooked the risks of embracing company policies under the frameworks of ESG, or “environmental, social and governance,” as well as DEI, or “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Investors said in their court filing that Target “neglected to mention the known risk of adverse customer and stockholder reactions to its ESG/DEI mandates in general, and its ‘Pride Month’ campaigns in particular.”
Target had urged the judge to throw the lawsuit out. The company said they acknowledged the risk of the campaigns. They say the suit is based only on the investor not liking the company’s business decisions.
The judge’s ruling against Target means the case will proceed. However, whether it will continue in Florida is the next legal question.
The judge said he will handle Target’s request to move the case to its home jurisdiction in Minnesota in a future order.
[KARAH RUCKER]
A federal judge in Florida says Target will have to face a lawsuit from a shareholder over the fallout from its sales of LGBTQ-themed merchandise last year.
The suit accuses Target of misleading shareholders about the efforts the retail giant had taken to protect the company from social and political risks.
The conservative group America First Legal … headed by President-elect Trump’s close adviser Stephen Miller … filed the lawsuit on behalf of a shareholder after Target’s sales of merchandise tied to Pride month led to public outcry and a customer boycott.
They allege the company overlooked the risks of embracing company policies under the frameworks of ESG, standing for “Environmental, social, and governance”… and DEI, standing for “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Investors said in their court filing that Target, quote, “…neglected to mention the known risk of adverse customer and stockholder reactions to its ESG slash DEI mandates in general, and its “Pride Month” campaigns in particular.”
DEI mandates in particular have drawn backlash over fears the policies discriminate against certain workers or shame them for their identities.
Target had urged the judge to throw the lawsuit out … saying they did acknowledge the risk of the campaigns and that the suit is based only on the investor not liking the company’s business decisions.
The judge’s ruling against Target means the case will proceed, but whether it will continue in Florida is the next legal question.
The judge said he will handle Target’s request to move the case to its home jurisdiction in Minnesota in a future order.
For Straight Arrow News, I’m Karah Rucker.
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