Target leadership under fire over ‘strategic missteps’ on DEI, ICE

Investors Trillium Asset Management, SOC Investment Group and Mercy Investment Services asked shareholders to oppose the reelection of Brian Cornell and Christine Leahy at Target’s annual shareholder meeting.

By Zoya Mirza • May 20, 2026

Wells Fargo agrees to $110M lending, hiring discrimination settlement

The agreement settles a suit that alleged the bank approved less than 50% of Black homeowners’ refinancing applications in 2020 and participated in discriminatory hiring practices.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • May 20, 2026

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from ESG Dive

The landscape for ESG continues to shift, as U.S. exits from major climate agreements and organizations are juxtaposed with states forging ahead with their own climate disclosure laws.

By ESG Dive staff

PayPal settles with DOJ over DEI

The digital payments company agreed last week to a settlement with the Department of Justice over a 2020 diversity investment fund.

By Lynne Marek • May 19, 2026

DOJ may intervene in NAACP lawsuit over xAI’s data center gas turbines

It is “the policy of the United States to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance,” a deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice wrote in a court notice suggesting it might intervene.

By Diana DiGangi • May 19, 2026

Florida AG subpoenas NFL over inclusive hiring practices, ‘Rooney Rule’

James Uthmeier is questioning whether the National Football League’s inclusive hiring policies are legal under state law, and whether alterations to how such policies are represented are misleading.

By Lamar Johnson • May 14, 2026

6 ways to reduce DEI programs’ legal risk

Despite claims to the contrary, diversity, equity and inclusion are very much alive, even if employers have tweaked their language and content, Epstein Becker Green attorneys said.

By Ryan Golden • May 13, 2026

Organizations partner to develop corporate water stewardship guidance

The group plans to develop shared language and metrics for how companies track and measure water impacts and risks across their supply chain.

By Lamar Johnson • May 1, 2026

Lawsuit alleges Trump’s anti-DEI contractor order violates Constitution

Filed Monday, the complaint alleges the order violates free speech and free association rights.

By Emilie Shumway • April 23, 2026

PepsiCo settles EEOC lawsuit alleging it failed to accommodate and fired blind employee

The beverage maker will pay a blind former customer service employee $270,000 and work with an expert to develop software that accommodates visually impaired staff.

By Laurel Kalser • April 20, 2026

Deloitte Consulting penalized employees for taking pregnancy-related leave, lawsuit alleges

Employees who took protected pregnancy-related, parental or family leave allegedly received lower scores on their annual assessments, according to the complaint.

By Laurel Kalser • April 17, 2026

Affordable housing standard evolves from sustainability to resilience

Updated Enterprise Green Communities Criteria focus on extreme heat, wildfire, flooding and power outages, treating climate risk as a core housing responsibility.

By Robyn Griggs Lawrence • April 15, 2026

IBM strikes $17M deal to end feds’ probe of DEI programs

An assistant U.S. attorney general said the settlement demonstrated the Justice Department’s commitment to ending “woke unconstitutional practices.”

By Ryan Golden • April 14, 2026

Courts likely to side with EEOC in DEI probes, attorneys say

A recent lawsuit against Nike represents the “tip of the spear” for the commission’s anti-DEI efforts, according to Duane Morris’ Gerald Maatman.

By Ryan Golden • April 13, 2026

BNY gives its employees a homeownership hand-up

The bank is offering $6,500 in down payment assistance to employees who make $100,000 or less a year. BNY in recent years has raised its minimum wage and offered company stock to its lowest-paid workers.

By Dan Ennis • April 9, 2026

How climate change can lead to workplace disruption and employee stress

Deloitte research found that extreme weather events frequently affected day-to-day workforce dynamics far beyond missed shifts.

By Lara Ewen • April 9, 2026

Grocer Ahold Delhaize USA joins Responsible Labor Initiative

The supermarket chain will help tackle human rights risks in global food and beverage supply chains as a member of the international group.

By Sam Silverstein • April 9, 2026

Advancing sustainability amid heightened scrutiny top of mind at GreenBiz26

The annual conference provided a venue to share best practices for advancing corporate sustainability programs amid a shifting political environment and evolving expectations.

By Lamar Johnson • April 8, 2026

AI may threaten critical thinking in the workplace

Human capital as a whole is at risk due to AI use at work, according to University of Bath researchers.

By Caroline Colvin • April 8, 2026

Microsoft inks bioenergy CDR deal with Indigenous-owned project

The tech giant is purchasing 626,000 metric tons from what is believed to be Canada’s first majority Indigenous-owned carbon removal project. The deal was called an “anchor offtake.” 

By Lamar Johnson • April 7, 2026

Gender pay gap grows in 2026, report finds

Payscale noted that the gender pay gap exists at every education level and “widens significantly” as women age and progress in their careers.

By Ginger Christ • April 7, 2026

Trump’s 2027 budget again aims to halve EPA spending

The president envisions steep cuts to social and environmental programming in an echo of his proposal last year. The final tally will likely change following negotiations with Congress.

By Jacob Wallace • April 6, 2026

Corporate responsibility budgets steady despite ‘challenging year’: ACCP

Amid political shifts, corporate social responsibility teams are sticking to their strategies and aligning to business value, according to the CEO of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals.

By Lamar Johnson • April 3, 2026

Nestlé inks partnership to support labor rights in coffee supply chains

The two-year social justice project with the International Labour Organization will focus on three main coffee sourcing countries: Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

By Zoya Mirza • April 2, 2026

REI faces possible anniversary sale boycott after abandoning labor talks

The REI Union, expressing confidence that the retailer’s customers would join workers in sending a message, will finalize a decision by May 1.

By Daphne Howland • April 2, 2026

The hospitality industry’s gender pay gap is ‘structural,’ analysis finds

Progress on the pay gap has generally stalled, various reports indicate, and it is particularly notable in food service.

By Kathryn Moody • March 31, 2026