Citizens United: The Shareholders Strike Back | Mother Jones

Citizens United: The Shareholders Strike Back | Mother Jones

"NorthStar's decision to pressure Home Depot dates back to the summer of 2010, when the fund's staffers watched controversy engulf big-box store Target over its political donations. Long seen as an advocate of the gay community, Target was boycotted for its $150,000 donation to a group named Minnesota Forward that ran ads in support of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, who opposes same-sex marriage rights. The boycott spawned pickets, viral videos, and angry Facebook groups with names like "Boycott Target Until They Cease Funding Anti-Gay Politics." Target defended its donation, then apologized, but the backlash caused the company's stock to plunge by 3.5 percent, or $1.3 billion, in the weeks after the Minnesota Forward donation became public.

Those losses caught Goodridge's eye. She says her firm took action out of a fiduciary duty to its investors, and to avoid a similar controversy embroiling Home Depot. As Goodridge points out, there's a similar conflict between Home Depot's stated policy toward gays and the anti-gay positions of candidates funded by Home Depot's eponymous political action committee. For instance, in 2006, the PAC donated $1,000 to Kansas Republican Sam Brownback, now the state's governor and a supporter of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and gave $10,000 to help Bob McDonnell's gubernatorial campaign in Virginia. McDonnell is a staunch opponent of workplace protections for LGBT state employees." Read More | Mother Jones