Bass Pro Shops - Charges of Racial Discrimination By The EEOC

Charges of Racial Discrimination By The EEOC

On September 21, 2011, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against Bass Pro. According to the EEOC’s suit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Civil Action No. 4:11-CV-3425), Bass Pro has been discriminating in its hiring since at least November 2005. The EEOC’s suit alleges that qualified African Americans and Hispanics were routinely denied retail positions such as cashier, sales associate, team leader, supervisor, manager and other positions at many Bass Pro stores nationwide.

The lawsuit alleges that managers at Bass Pro stores in the Houston area, in Louisiana, and elsewhere made overtly racially derogatory remarks acknowledging the discriminatory practices, including that hiring black candidates did not fit the corporate profile or customer demographics. The EEOC also alleges that managers at some stores retaliated against employees who expressed opposition to discriminatory practices and may have either fired or forced the resignation of others. Bass Pro Shops issued a statement denying the allegations and maintaining that the company had cooperated fully with an EEOC investigation.

On May 31, 2012, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison threw out most of the EEOC’s racial bias suit against Bass Pro Outdoor. The judge found that "the EEOC failed to make its case for a pattern or practice of discrimination."