From Mr LaCroix's blog:
In October 2020, Starbucks announced on its corporate website its adoption of a series of policies calculated to realize the company’s “commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.” At the time of the policies’ adoption, the company committed to “taking further actions toward tangible and lasting change.”
The National Center for Public Policy is a conservative non-profit think tank based in Washington, D.C. The organization also claims to be a Starbucks shareholder. On March 25, 2022, the American Civil Rights Project, acting on behalf of the plaintiff, published an open letter to the directors and officers of Starbucks warning the company’s executives of “the risks to which the Policies expose Starbucks and its shareholders.” A copy of the letter was also sent to the company. The letter alleges that the company’s DEI policies violate federal and state civil rights and anti-discrimination laws and expose the company to substantial legal liabilities. The letter demanded that the company retract the policies and immediately cease implementing them. On July 22, 2022, the company’s legal counsel sent a response letter stating that it would not be in the company’s best interest to retract the policies.
On August 30, 2022, the plaintiff filed a complaint in the Spokane County (Washington) Superior Court against certain Starbucks officers and directors. ...
... The defendants, the complaint contends, should be stopped from violating the civil rights laws and “from diverting the shareholders’ corporate resources to their personal use in buying themselves social credit.
Mr. LaCroix "noted in a recent post [that] there is a form of anti-ESG backlash that is emerging." This suit fits the emerging pattern.
He observes:
As the lawsuit shows, the backlash can also take the form of litigation as well. The lawsuit also shows that there not only are advocates that will challenge companies for the lack of ESG initiative, there also are advocates that will challenge companies that are proactive on ESG.
