by Eric Lendrum
On Tuesday, the conservative legal group America First Legal (AFL) announced that it would be suing the retail giant Target, claiming that the company misled its shareholders by issuing false statements about the measures it was taking to avoid social and political risks.
As Just The News reports, AFL declared in its lawsuit that “Target’s management has misled investors, assuring them that the corporation oversees social and political issues and risks to protect shareholders.”
“Behind closed doors, Target works for its extremist hard-left ‘stakeholders’ at the expense of its customers and shareholders,” AFL continued. “In its 2022 and 2023 Proxy Statements, Target assured shareholders and investors that the Board was monitoring for social and political issues and risks arising from the company’s ESG mandates. However, management only cared whether its leftist ‘stakeholders’ were satisfied, disregarding the possibility that its customers and shareholders might feel differently.”
AFL then pointed to the primary catalyst for Target’s financial decline: A campaign in May of this year to promote LGBT-themed clothing, including “transgender” clothing aimed at toddlers.
“In May 2023, Target embraced the radical transgender agenda with its ‘Pride’ marketing and sales campaign,” AFL stated. “The collection included clothing for children with rainbow symbols, LGBT-themed bibs and onesies for babies, and ‘tuck-friendly’ bathing suits for ‘transgender women.’ This reckless move predictably caused more than a $12 billion collapse in share value — its largest loss in over 20 years.”
The controversial campaign by Target was launched ahead of June, which some consider to be “gay pride month.” It followed on the heels of another major company facing boycotts and other forms of backlash due to its decision to support transgenderism, when the beer company Bud Light partnered with “transgender” social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The backlash led to Bud Light ultimately being forced to buy back cases of expired, unsold beer from store shelves across the country, while also falling from the top spot as the #1 most popular beer in America.
Another company that faced strong pride month backlash was the LA Dodgers, which hosted a far-left, anti-Christian drag queen group for its own pride month event.
“For far too long, large corporations have recklessly pandered to the left and ‘bent the knee’ to serve the woke elites. Today, on behalf of our client, America First Legal is saying enough is enough,” AFL’s statement concluded.
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
