Dive Brief:

• Trinity Church Wall Street, an historic Episcopal church with a charter from 1697 that continues to hold daily services and a Wal-Mart shareholder, has sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a federal court over the retailer’s refusal to distribute proxy material on sales of weapons and sexually explicit music at its June 6 shareholder meeting​.

• The church contends that sales of guns with clips containing more than 10 rounds of ammunition, which it says enable mass killings, and music detailing sex and violence hurt the company’s reputation and go against family values.

• The retailer says it is disappointed in the lawsuit and that the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided that the company’s rules permit it to disallow the church’s vote request.

Dive Insight:

This is the kind of lawsuit that is unlikely to go anywhere, but can cause a public relations headache for any company. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been forced to address the issues raised by Trinity Church Wall Street, which enjoys a 17th century charter and has profited from a 1705 gift from the Queen of England. How big of a headache, and how long it lasts, depends largely on how much of an impression the church is able to make and how much the public cares about the social issues it raises.