Target has made it a point to celebrate wokeness.
One big mistake by the company is coming back to bite them.
And Florida filed a lawsuit against Target for one reason that Democrats will hate.
Florida files a lawsuit against Target for DEI policies burning shareholders
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was searching for a new Attorney General after he appointed Ashley Moody to fill the Senate seat left behind by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
He tapped his former chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to be Florida’s new Attorney General.
Uthmeier was described as a “bulldog” by DeSantis.
It did not take him long to get to work.
Uthmeier filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against Target over the retailer’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
The lawsuit argues that Target CEO Brian Cornell and the company’s board of directors “misled investors” about the risks that came with the company adopting DEI and ESG.
Target’s support for DEI and ESG hurt sales and ultimately shareholders from a declining stock price.
“Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers,” Uthmeier said in a statement. “My office will stridently pursue corporate reform so that companies get back to the business of doing business — not offensive political theatre.”
The lawsuit claimed that Target violated the Securities Exchange Act by not disclosing the financial risks associated with ESG and DEI.
Backlash against Target going woke cost its investors
America First Legal and the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), which oversees the state’s public pensions, joined Uthmeier’s lawsuit.
The SBA argued that it was harmed by the loss of value in the Target stock it holds over the company’s support for DEI and ESG.
Target faced a massive backlash in 2023 when its Pride Month merchandise featured “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for transgender children and for its work with a Satanic apparel designer who created clothes with slogans like “Satan respects pronouns.”
Some of the offensive items were removed from Target’s shelves after the backlash.
Shares of Target’s stock have fallen since the woke controversy as the retailer lost ground to rival Walmart.
Target’s stock is down nearly half since it hit its high in November 2021.
Officials with the retailer announced that it would end its DEI initiatives in January, but the damage has already been done.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis slammed Target for hurting the state’s pension fund and investors by going woke.
“We’ve seen time and time again that when companies prioritize performative virtue signaling and wokeness over profitability, they alienate customers, lose market value, and erode shareholder trust—all while pretending their activism carries no financial risk,” Patronis said. “Businesses like Target need to focus on the bottom line and do right by their customers, not some ESG overlords.”
The tide is turning against DEI in corporate America with a slew of major companies announcing they were ending their policies.
Target is going to have to learn a hard lesson in court over the damage it did to its shareholders with its left-wing political activism.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
