The state of Florida is suing Target Corporation over its ESG and DEI policies, alleging that the retail giant misled its investors about the financial risks of pushing a left-wing social agenda that led to a customer backlash that cost the company billions of dollars in market value.
In the first state action against the Minneapolis-based company over the DEI disaster, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he was representing the State Board of Administration of Florida (SBA) which manages pension funds in a “major class-action lawsuit” alleging that Target “knowingly misled and defrauded investors by concealing the financial risks of its radical LGBTQ activism, costing shareholders tens of billions of dollars.”
Target was one of the first companies to face boycotts as American anger over corporate social activism boiled over in 2023 over its promotion of “Pride” month that featured prominently placed displays in stores championing the LGBTQ lifestyle and targeting children. Customer revulsion sent the company’s stock prices plummeting and inflicted severe damage on its brand.
Today, we filed a lawsuit against Target on behalf of the Florida State Board of Administration.
Target’s efforts to sexualize children caused its stock price to plummet, harming Florida’s retirement fund and putting the retirements of our teachers and first responders at risk: pic.twitter.com/UcZq3cSC3p
— James Uthmeier (@JamesUthmeierFL) February 20, 2025
“Today, we filed a lawsuit against Target on behalf of the Florida State Board of Administration,” the Florida AG said in a post to X. “Target’s efforts to sexualize children caused its stock price to plummet, harming Florida’s retirement fund and putting the retirements of our teachers and first responders at risk.”
“The fallout from Target’s unlawful conduct was swift and catastrophic. Following the launch of Target’s 2023 Pride Campaign, Target’s stock price plummeted — wiping out $10 billion in market value in just ten days and erasing $25 billion in shareholder value over the course of six months, its worst performance and longest losing streak in 23 years,” read a statement on the attorney general’s website.
Joining Uthmeier in suing the big box retailer is America First Legal (AFL). Boyden Gray PLLC and Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC also serve as plaintiff’s counsel in the lawsuit which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Thursday, the statement said.
“Corporations that push radical leftist ideology at the expense of financial returns jeopardize the retirement security of Florida’s first responders and teachers. My office will stridently pursue corporate reform so that companies get back to the business of doing business—not offensive political theatre. We appreciate America First Legal’s assistance in the fight to keep Florida’s investments safe,” Uthmeier said in a statement.
“Target misled and defrauded its investors, destroying billions in shareholder value to serve its management’s corrosive, radical, and deeply destructive social agenda. America First Legal is proud to continue this fight with our co-counsel Lawson Huck and Boyden Gray. We would like to thank Attorney General James Uthmeier for his leadership in bringing Florida into this fight to protect Florida’s hard-working citizens from abuse and financial loss at the hands of woke corporate elites,” said America First Legal Senior Vice President Reed D. Rubinstein.
Last month, Target announced that it was ending its DEI experiment, including racially discriminatory policies put into place after the death of career criminal and drug addict George Floyd who perished while resisting arrest at the hands of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day weekend in 2020, igniting violent national race riots.
Target’s efforts to move beyond the corrosive and costly DEI has infuriated black activist leaders including the NAACP which are threatening their own boycotts of companies that are abandoning racism.
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