Newly-appointed Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has taken aim at Target for its disastrous 2023 Pride campaign, which caused stock prices to plummet and put retirement pensions at risk.
Uthmeier teamed up with America First Legal and the State Board Administration of Florida – which oversees state pension funds – to file the proposed class action lawsuit against the retailer in federal court in Fort Myers on Thursday, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
It alleges that Target violated the Securities Exchange Act by not disclosing the risk to investors of its DEI initiatives and environmental, social and governance efforts – particularly with its 2023 Pride campaign that led to widespread boycotts of the company.
‘You’ll remember Target promoted rainbow sports bras for boys, children’s swimsuits with transgender features and books for kids that ask them to question their biological reality,’ Uthmeier said in a video announcing the lawsuit.
‘This radical campaign predictably caused Target’s stock price to plummet, wiping out $10billion in market value in just 10 days and those losses put the retirement accounts of Florida’s teachers and first responders at an unacceptable risk.’
‘Our public servants should not suffer diminished retirement security because companies focus on leftist virtue signaling rater than shareholder returns.
‘We will fight to hold Target financially accountable for those wrongful practices and force them and other corporate giants to get back to the business of doing business,’ the attorney general vowed.
‘We’re not afraid of a fight in Florida and you can bet that we won’t back down [to] the corporate bullies who are willing to sacrifice returns in order to indoctrinate children.’
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on Thursday he has filed a lawsuit against Target for the effects of its disastrous 2023 Pride campaign
The Pride campaign sparked widespread backlash against the company and caused a boycott
Target’s 2023 Pride collection included a variety of clothes and home goods, including a ‘tuck-friendly’ bathing suit and badges with slogans like ‘Satan Respects Pronouns.’
‘It featured extensive marketing and products directed to children as young as newborns and highlighted products by a «Satanist-inspired» designer,’ the lawsuit says.
‘It embroiled Target in the culture war and caused Target to experience record stock declines and foregone sales and costing investors billions.’
Right-wing customers erupted in fury at some of the offerings, which also included children’s literature such as ‘Bye Bye Binary’, and wall posters reading, ‘Ask me about my pronouns.’
Calendars reading ‘Queer All Year’ were also among the products, with others including rainbow covered children’s clothes and adult bodysuits.
Millions pledged to boycott the company after the campaign, with several stores moving their displays to smaller areas in the back.
As a result, the company’s share price tanked by over $10billion in just 10 days and erased $25billion in shareholder value over six months.
By August 2023, company executives were forced to acknowledge in an earnings call that the ‘strong reaction’ to its Pride line was a ‘signal for us to pause, adapt and learn,’ according to Forbes.
It included a variety of clothes and home goods, including a ‘tuck-friendly’ bathing suit
The lawsuit claims the collection ‘featured extensive marketing and products directed to children as young as newborns and highlighted products by a «Satanist-inspired» designer’
Thursday’s lawsuit marks the second such suit against the retail giant after America First Legal – founded by former Trump advisor Stephen Miller – filed one in August 2023 for securities fraud.
That case is ongoing, and America First Legal has since provided the Trump administration with a list of companies it thinks are engaged in ‘illegal DEI activities’ including Target.
But the company has previously argued that it warned shareholders repeatedly of the potential backlash by conservative and religious groups.
It has now also decided to axe its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts – reaching the decision shortly after President Donald created orders to sever such policies across the nation.
‘Throughout 2025, we’ll be accelerating action in key areas and implementing changes with the goal of driving growth and staying in step with the evolving external landscape,’ Target said.
As part of that change, the company said it plans to end its three-year DEI goals, conclude its Racial Equity Action and Change (REAC) initiatives, halt ‘external diversity-focused surveys,’ and rename its ‘Superior Diversity’ outreach to ‘Supplier Engagement.’
Target has previously argued that it warned shareholders repeatedly of the potential backlash by conservative and religious groups. CEO Brian Cornell is pictured
As the company makes these changes, some now see Uthmeier’s lawsuit as ‘political.’
He entered office last week pledging to use Florida’s muster to ‘champion an America-first agenda’ and challenge ‘the left,’ according to the Associated Press.
Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell also told WFLA that Uthmeier is ‘very loyal’ to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
‘He said so himself when he was being sworn in that he promised not to let the governor down,’ she said.
‘Well the attorney general is supposed to be serving the people of the great state of Florida, not the governor. And it [is] just very disappointing to me that it’s the people who are going to lose out.’
Driskell went on to argue that her constituents are instead ‘worried about the rising cost of property insurance, they’re concerned about housing affordability. People are concerned about the price of eggs.
‘We just got new inflation numbers and we see that it’s going up and so it’s very concerning to me that the state of Florida is injecting itself into more culture wars rather than focusing on what Floridians asked us to do in the first place, which is to lower the cost of living for them.’
Still, Uthmeier said he will continue to push businesses to stay on track instead of ‘political theater.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Target for comment.
