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Before it scaled back its DEI efforts last month, Target was
long considered a corporate advocate for the rights of Black and
LGBTQ+ people. The retailer's decision in 2023 to roll out LGBTQ+
merchandise in honor of Pride month outraged some shoppers and
sparked confrontations in some stores.
In the lawsuit filed in Fort Myers, Florida, Attorney General
James Uthmeier argued that Target violated the Securities
Exchange Act by failing to disclose "the known risks” of its DEI
and Pride month initiatives.
“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.”
Uthmeier, who was appointed as attorney general by Republican
Gov. Ron DeSantis this week, has pledged to use the state's
legal muster to “champion an America-first agenda” and challenge
what he called “the left.”
Target did not respond to a request for comment.
Target announced in late January that it planned to discontinue
a program aimed at better serving Black employees, Black
shoppers and Black-owned businesses. The Minneapolis-based
retailer ushered in a series of DEI initiatives following the
police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Since then, diversity, equity and inclusion policies have come
under attack from conservative activists and the White House.
Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands also
have scrapped or reduced their DEI commitments.
Earlier this month, Missouri's attorney general sued Starbucks
over its diversity policies, claiming the coffee chain engaged
in “systemic racial, sexual, and sexual orientation
discrimination.” The Seattle-based company has called the claims
“inaccurate.”
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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for
America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a
nonprofit national service program that places journalists in
local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
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