Target’s DEI Dilemma: Lawsuits and Boycotts Follow Retail Giant’s Diversity Initiatives

The national big box retailer, Target, is catching hell from both sides in the increasingly acrimonious debate over corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives — lawsuits from those opposed to the practice and boycotts from those in favor of it.On Thursday, the state of Florida filed a lawsuit against the Target Corporation, alleging that it misled its investors about the risks associated with its DEI initiatives, including the possibility of consumer boycotts arising from a 2023 LGBT-Pride campaign by the company. Florida officials say the company failed to warn shareholders about the potential impact of the boycott on its bottom line, according to a report from Bloomberg.“Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers,” Attorney General James Uthmeier of Florida said in a statement.The class action complaint by the State Board of Administration of Florida — which manages public pension funds in the Sunshine State — focuses on the marketing campaign for a series of Pride Month-related products that promoted inappropriate products to children and families which, “embroiled Target in the culture war and caused Target to experience record stock declines and foregone sales, costing investors billions,” according to the complaint.Joining the lawsuit is the America First Legal Foundation, a conservative advocacy group currently negotiating a potential settlement with Target over another lawsuit filed over the same merchandise campaign.Since November of last year, when the Pride campaign was launched, shares of Target’s stock has fallen more than 22 percent, leading to a market value loss of $15.7 billion. Investors have maintained that the downturn was due to the company’s DEI policies.Last month, Target announced it would be scaling back its DEI initiatives following criticism from conservatives and an overall push by the Trump administration to rollback diversity policies. The company ended a program that focused on carrying more products from Black and minority-owned businesses, leading a group of Black faith leaders to enact a Lent-inspired boycott of the store, according to the Hill.“If corporate America can’t stand with us, we’re not going to stand with corporate America,” Bishop Reginald T. Jackson said Monday at the Black Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church at Washington, D.C.“We’re here today because what we’re seeing for 30 days is a foretaste of four years,” the co-founder of the Skinner Leadership Institute, Barbara Williams-Skinner, said during the boycott announcement.“This is already telling us that if we don’t stop it at 30 days, we won’t have a country. We won’t have a democracy.”

Target’s DEI Dilemma: Lawsuits and Boycotts Follow Retail Giant’s Diversity Initiatives

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