The daughters of one of Target's cofounders say they're "shocked and dismayed" at the company's recent DEI rollback.
In letters to the editor published in the Financial Times and the Los Angeles Times, Anne and Lucy Dayton said their father, Bruce Dayton, believed in clear principles of happy customers and strong communities.
"We are alarmed how quickly the business community has given in to the current administration's retaliatory threats," they wrote. "It is not 'illegal' for a company to create a business model based on what it believes to be important ethical and business standards."
Bruce Dayton, who died in 2015 at 97, was one of five brothers who grew their father's Minneapolis department store into a national brand.
Neither the sisters nor Target immediately responded to requests for comment from Business Insider.
Target is one of several companies scaling back diversity efforts amid wider political scrutiny of DEI programs following Donald Trump's reelection.
CEO Brian Cornell said in 2023 that DEI was "the right thing for society, and it's the great thing for our brand."
Days later, the company began pulling LGBTQ+ pride merchandise after conservative activists mounted a campaign against the celebration.
In late January, a police pension fund in Florida filed a proposed class-action shareholder lawsuit against Target, alleging the company made "false and misleading" statements about its DEI strategy's effect on its financial results.
While some companies have announced their moves, others have discreetly removed references to DEI from their communications.
Some companies, including Deloitte and Google, have said that as federal contractors, they're required to follow Trump's recent executive order to end DEI programs at federal agencies.
"By cowering," the Dayton sisters said, "Target and others are undermining the very principles that have made their companies a success."
