Major corporations have prioritized promoting a left-wing political agenda.
The tide is turning against them.
And Florida put woke companies on notice with one message that left Target’s CEO panicking.
Florida Attorney General warns woke companies to stick to business
Wokeness swept through corporate America over the last decade.
Companies became more interested in promoting a left-wing political agenda than turning a profit.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is leading the charge to fight back against woke corporations.
Schemes like environmental, social, and governance (ESG) that prioritize investments in things like green energy while shunning fossil fuel companies over climate change leave investors holding the short end of the stick.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told Fox News that he’s going after “woke” schemes companies use, like ESG and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), that are hurting residents of his state.
“In my first week in office, we filed a lawsuit against Target based on some of the radical ideologies that they were pushing forward in their stores,” Uthmeier said. “Many months ago, they rolled out a transgender children’s clothing line. And yes, companies have some free speech rights, but when you are a publicly traded company, you have fiduciary duties to shareholders.”
Uthmeier filed a class action lawsuit against Target in February for misleading investors about the risks the company’s support for DEI posed.
Target lost more than $20 billion in market value after the retailer faced a massive backlash for targeting kids with transgender merchandise.
Going woke threatens the retirement of Floridians
Uthmeier noted that Florida has millions of dollars invested in companies like Target that teachers and police officers are counting on to fund their pensions.
“Here in Florida, our state pension fund that provides the retirement for our teachers and first responders took a massive hit when Target decided to engage in this social ideology,” Uthmeier explained. “They faced a serious backlash in the market, and they lost over 10 billion in value in 10 days.”
Publicly traded companies are required under federal law to maximize returns for their shareholders.
“So this isn’t right,” Uthmeier stated. “We’re going to hold companies like this accountable. If you have a fiduciary duty to the state of Florida, and we’re investing in you, and we’re looking out for the retirement of our state workers, we’re going to make sure that you get back to the business of doing business.”
Uthmeier warned companies operating in Florida that they’re being put on notice.
“I’ll tell you we are watching, and we are not afraid to take action if we believe a correction needs to be made,” Uthmeier said.
Florida is no longer going to be doing business with companies that support woke ideologies like DEI and ESG.
“We are working, and we released a policy today to announce that we are not going to allow the state to do business with any law firms that are advancing unlawful ESG and DEI policies. Many of these policies violate our civil rights laws in Florida,” Uthmeier explained. “They are not reflective of equal justice under the law. In fact, they are discriminatory. So we’ve put law firms on notice.”
James Uthemeier is fulfilling Ron DeSantis’ goal of making Florida where woke goes to die.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
