Over the last several months, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has sparked a national dialogue about racial justice and equity. This national focus on race-related issues has created a new theory of liability in shareholder litigation, alleging that company directors can violate their duties to the company and shareholders by, among other things, failing to have a sufficiently racially diverse board. So far, several shareholder derivative actions alleging this theory have been filed. Although a number of these suits have targeted technology companies, including Cisco, NortonLifeLock, Facebook and Qualcomm, there also have been suits filed against companies from other industries, including The Gap and Monster Beverage Corp.

These lawsuits serve as the latest example of how mainstream social justice movements can influence trends in shareholder litigation. While only one of the complaints references the BLM movement, the timing of the filing of the complaints suggests that the allegations are a response to the recent heightened awareness around racial diversity and inclusion. Indeed, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers from several of the suits, Louise Renne, stated that they were driven by “the renewed focus on the Black Lives Matter movement” with the intent “to use all the tools available to address systemic racism” and “to push for diversity and bring new voices into the top levels of decision-making.”