Carl's Jr. vs Wendy's
On overall TruNorth grade, Wendy's scores higher (Carl's Jr.: D, Wendy's: C). Both graded from public records across nine values categories.
Political donations
Via parent company CKE Restaurants: FEC: $189K in executive political donations; partisan lean split across 6 executive donors.
FEC: $50K PAC donations; 70% to Republican, 30% to Democratic committees.
Environment
No public record found.
environmental violation: $8K in federal penalties (Violation Tracker).
Labor
2 federal penalties totaling $165K since 2000 (Violation Tracker).
25 federal penalties totaling $6.3M since 2000 (Violation Tracker).
DEI
No public record found.
Wendy's created a dedicated Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer role in March 2021 and maintains six Employee Resource Groups; however, by 2025 the role was retitled to 'Global Chief Culture and Inclusion Officer,' dropping 'DEI' branding, and a 2024 SEC-filed shareholder proposal cited the company for lacking an independent racial equity audit and time-bound DEI goals.
Charity
$2M reported corporate giving in 2024 (~0.19% of revenue).
$40M reported corporate giving in 2024 (~0.19% of revenue) via Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
Animal testing
No public record found.
Open Wing Alliance: cage-free egg transition on track for US breakfast menu. [Cage-free on track]
Firearms
No public record found.
No public record found.
Privacy
No public record found.
1 documented breach affecting 52,485 accounts (HIBP); latest breach 2018-03-31.
Executive pay
No public record found.
No public record found.
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