Target investor sues retailer over its $14B loss in market value

A Target investor has sued the retail giant with help from a conservative legal organization, accusing the corporation of deceiving shareholders about the financial risks of its LGBT and diversity policies that cost the company billions in losses.

Brian Craig, who owns 216 shares of Target stock, says the company and its board of directors gave investors false assurances that it had assessed the social and political risks of its social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates. Craig asserts that this falsehood reportedly led to an LGBT-themed marketing campaign that cost the corporation’s shareholders billions of dollars. 

America First Legal Foundation President Stephen Miller, who was an advisor to former President Donald Trump, filed the lawsuit Tuesday at a federal court in Florida. The conservative legal group is joined in the case by Boyden Gray PLLC and Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC. 

According to the lawsuit, Target’s inclusive policies allowed the retailer to “serve its divisive political and social goals, and ultimately lose billions.” The investor is asking the court to award him damages for the company’s falling stock price that followed the customer backlash to Target’s policies.

As The Christian Post reported in May, a Fox Business report found Target had lost $9.3 billion in market value, and the corporation’s shares had dropped by more than 12.6% since the controversy surrounding its pride-themed collection began.

On Wednesday, Fox News reported that Target had lost around $14 billion in market value after the controversy over the pride collection, with the outlet citing the Dow Jones Market Data Group.

Target did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment. 

One of the reasons for the stock price drop, according to the lawsuit, is the public’s reaction to an LGBT-themed collection Target launched in anticipation of so-called pride month in June (see here and here). 

“No rational board of directors or management of a retailer with a core customer base of working families would have approved such a nationwide campaign,” the complaint reads. “Nonetheless, Target’s officials pursued.” 

In May, Target faced backlash for a pride-themed clothing collection that featured “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for trans-identifying men displayed in the women’s department. 

The loss in value appears to correlate with calls from many Christian conservatives, such as commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the “Relatable” podcast, to boycott the company over the collection.

“Christians who have thus far tricked themselves into thinking ‘pronoun hospitality’ is a loving evangelistic tool should wake up to the fact that they’ve been dancing with the devil,” Stuckey wrote in a tweet at the time.

In a follow-up tweet, Stuckey called on Christian women to boycott the store or at least refuse to shop at the retail chain in June.

The corporation’s website also previously featured several products created by Abprallen, a London-based company that designs products with occult imagery. Some of the Abprallen items previously for sale online included a messenger bag that reads “Too Queer for Here” and a sweatshirt that states: “Cure transphobia, not trans people.”

Abprallen, which was started by a woman who identifies as a “gay trans man” named Erik-James Carnell, attracted controversy for a “Satan respects pronouns” design it shared on Instagram on March 28. 

“Satan is hope, compassion, equality, and love. So, naturally, Satan respects pronouns. He loves all [LGBT] people,” the post stated. “I went with a variation of Baphomet for this design, a deity who themself is a mixture of genders, beings, ideas and existences. They reject binary stereotypes and expectations. Perfect.”

In response to the controversy and declining stock value, Target indicated that it would make changes to its pride collection. 

“For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month. Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” the corporation wrote in a May statement.

“Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior,” the statement continued. “Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”

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