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Columbia Sportswear vs Patagonia

On overall TruNorth grade, Patagonia scores higher (Columbia Sportswear: C, Patagonia: A). Both graded from public records across nine values categories.

C
Columbia Sportswear
54.7/100
A
Patagonia
71.1/100

Political donations

Columbia Sportswear

FEC: $137K in executive political donations; partisan lean split across 5 executive donors.

Patagonia

Goods Unite Us A grade — corporate giving + executive donations heavily progressive. [goods-unite-us]

Environment

Columbia Sportswear

environmental violation: $23K in federal penalties (Violation Tracker).

Patagonia

1% for the Planet member — pledges 1% of annual sales to environmental nonprofits. Certified B Corporation since 2022 (B Impact score 166/200). Fair Trade Certified partner (apparel) — sources through cooperatives guaranteeing minimum prices and community premiums. Climate-commitment coalition member: We Mean Business Coalition (since 2018). We Mean Business Coalition member: committed to climate action across multiple WMBC campaigns. Ethical Consumer Best Buy — clothing guide leader on environment, supply-chain transparency, B Corp. DoneGood marketplace — featured for environmental + supply-chain commitments. [ethical-consumer · donegood · goodonyou]

Labor

Columbia Sportswear

5 federal penalties totaling $169K since 2000 (Violation Tracker). Supply-chain signals: KnowTheChain 22/100; Fashion Rev 32%; FLA affiliate; UK MS statement.

Patagonia

Fashion Revolution Transparency Index: 32% disclosure across supply chain, policies, governance, and impact. Mid-pack apparel transparency. Supply-chain signals: Fashion Rev 32%; FLA affiliate; UK MS statement. Certified B Corporation since 2022 (B Impact score 166/200). Fair Trade Certified partner (apparel) — sources through cooperatives guaranteeing minimum prices and community premiums.

DEI

Columbia Sportswear

EEO-1 workforce demographics on federal record (FY2020, DOL OFCCP FOIA release): 4,327 US employees — 57.3% women, 32.6% racial/ethnic minorities; management 50.2% women, 14.6% minorities.

Patagonia

HRC Corporate Equality Index: 95/100 (2025) — strong LGBTQ+ workplace policies with minor deductions. Certified B Corporation since 2022 (B Impact score 166/200). HRC Corporate Equality Index 95/100 (2025) — top-tier LGBTQ+ workplace equality rating.

Charity

Columbia Sportswear

$3M reported corporate giving in 2024 (~0.09% of revenue).

Patagonia

$100M reported corporate giving in 2024 (~6.67% of revenue) via Patagonia Inc. Certified B Corporation since 2022 (B Impact score 166/200).

Animal testing

Columbia Sportswear

No public record found.

Patagonia

Regenerative Organic Certified Gold — apparel cotton + food line. [Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC Gold)]

Firearms

Columbia Sportswear

No public record found.

Patagonia

No public record found.

Privacy

Columbia Sportswear

No public record found.

Patagonia

Patagonia's published privacy notice discloses it 'sells' customer name, mailing address, and purchase history to marketing cooperative Epsilon, and its own policy states it maintains 'reasonable physical, electronic, and administrative measures' to safeguard data. However, as of 2024, Patagonia faced two active proposed class-action lawsuits: one filed July 11, 2024 in California Superior Court (Gills v. Patagonia) alleging it used AI vendor Talkdesk to intercept, record, and analyze customer phone calls without consent in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, seeking $5,000 per violation per class member; and a second filed in Arizona federal court (Knight v. Patagonia, Case No. 4:24-cv-00255) alleging hidden email tracking pixels captured subscriber data without consent in violation of Arizona's Telephone, Utility and Communication Service Records Act, seeking $1,000 per violation.

Executive pay

Columbia Sportswear

CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio 99:1 (median employee pay $30,613) — SEC proxy statement (DEF 14A, 2026).

Patagonia

No public record found.

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