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Federal Judge Blasts DEI and BlackRock's 'Incestuous' Relationship in New Ruling
Western Journal ^ | January 18, 2025 | Ben Zeisloft

Posted on 01/18/2025 12:46:32 PM PST by george76

A federal judge in Texas ruled against American Airlines after the company centered employee retirement plans on environmental, social, and governance factors, also known as ESG.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor concluded on Jan. 10 that American Airlines failed to exercise its fiduciary duty to make investment decisions for retirement accounts based on the best interests of the beneficiaries, according to a report from Reuters.

O’Connor added that American Airlines had inappropriate ties to BlackRock, the asset management behemoth which has long been a leading advocate for the ESG investing movement.

...

The evidence made clear that [American’s] incestuous relationship with BlackRock and its own corporate goals disloyally influenced administration of the Plan,” O’Connor wrote in the decision.

The decision came after a class action lawsuit from American Airlines pilot Bryan Spence on behalf of some 100,000 retirement savings participants.

... Will Hild, the executive director of Consumers’ Research and an opponent of ESG, celebrated the decision on Jan. 10 via social media, asserting that “any company” which uses BlackRock “could be held liable in the same way” if the ruling holds.

BlackRock left the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative on Jan. 9 following a recent lawsuit from Texas and other Republican-led states.

...

The court decision and collapse of the ESG group arguably continue a trend away from diversity, equity, and inclusion in corporate America.

Walmart, one of the largest private-sector employers in the country, recently reversed many DEI programs after pressure from conservative activist Robby Starbuck, while social media companies owned by Meta also shuttered DEI initiatives.

(Excerpt) Read more at westernjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: airlines; americanairlines; blackrock; dubyajudge; esg; esgfunds; fiduciaryduty; fiduciarymisconduct; investment; misappropriation; ndtexas; reedcoconnor; reedoconnor; retirementplans; voicevote

1 posted on 01/18/2025 12:46:32 PM PST by george76
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To: george76

Texas federal judge. More reason to require there only be one Federal Court district for the nation, the one in Texas and reduce the other districts to Small Claims courts


2 posted on 01/18/2025 12:54:38 PM PST by chuckee
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To: george76

Praise God for men like Robby Starbuck!


3 posted on 01/18/2025 1:07:36 PM PST by mbj
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To: george76

‘O’Connor added that American Airlines had inappropriate ties to BlackRock”

What a bonkers statement. Blackrock is the largest shareholder in AA because it is the largest provider of index funds. If we were to follow his logic no public company could hire a financial firm that runs index funds because total market index funds invest in every public company.


4 posted on 01/18/2025 1:16:32 PM PST by JSM_Liberty
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To: george76

It was never diversity and inclusion - it was always a way to get commie losers, sexual weirdos and other trash into high positions to take down companies like Boeing etc.

Trojan horse type stuff under the guise of ‘caring about the less fortunate’ Trump got the highest percentage of minority voters from native Americans... They’ve seen white liberal elite hatred ‘in their name’ the longest.

There’s plenty of minorities who can get their promotions - without having to compete with Marxists haters put up by white liberal elites.


5 posted on 01/18/2025 1:26:46 PM PST by GOPJ (AMERICA FOR AMERICANS if anyone wants to live in an overpopulated hellhole they can MOVE there..)
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To: george76

May Blackrock and all of their woke believers bubble and swirl in the sewage treatment plant where idiots get flushed.


6 posted on 01/18/2025 2:14:24 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber

“May Blackrock and all of their woke believers bubble and swirl in the sewage treatment plant where idiots get flushed.”

Very well stated...


7 posted on 01/18/2025 2:30:31 PM PST by Openurmind
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ESG doctrine is only there to the betterment of the company and it’s financial obligation subsidiaries.

Environmental, Social, and Governance... where in any of those tenants does it even remotely imply the algorithm is for the protection or benefit of the individual as an employee. Nowhere.


8 posted on 01/18/2025 4:20:46 PM PST by USCG SimTech
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To: george76

Corporate America discovers the DEI and ESG are not “best practices.”


9 posted on 01/18/2025 4:40:17 PM PST by linMcHlp
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To: JSM_Liberty

We told our investment guys no Blackrock.


10 posted on 01/18/2025 5:13:03 PM PST by yldstrk
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