U.S. Charges Bass Pro Shops with Racial Bias (Owner is Republican)

Wall Street Journal ^ | 9/22/11 | A Zimmerman

[Recovering_Democrat]

Bass Pro Shops have developed a devoted following by packing cavernous stores full of rods and reels, camping and hunting gear, camouflageclothingandanimal trophy-heads.

Behind the scenes, the retailer discriminates in hiring, the government said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Among the allegations: Bass Pro managers repeatedly refused to hire non-white workers as clerks, cashiers or managers, and used discriminatory language to explain their reasoning, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed its suit in federal district court in Houston.

For instance, the government alleged a Bass Pro human-resources executive told federal investigators that the assistant ...

[Rebelbase]

I pulled the trigger on that one before reading the context of the prior post. Need another cup of coffee here.

[AAABEST]

It’s called liberty.

That's exactly right.

Private individuals/property owners have a natural right to associate or disassociate with whomever they please for any reason whatsoever.

The idea of a business being a "public charge" is completely abstract concept created out of whole cloth by statists and 60s liberals.

Private property owners forcibly share an ownership interest with the collective.

[Jonty30]

I agree.

I think it’s a defensible position to let somebody go, despite their abilities and qualifications, if it’s hurting your customer relations.

That’s pretty much how you’d have to term it, if somebody came snooping around.

[C. Edmund Wright]

>>> I pulled the trigger on that one before reading the context of the prior post. Need another cup of coffee here. >>>

HOW DARE YOU! WHY, I”VE NEVER DONE SUCH A THING /sarc

[MestaMachine]

Okay. I’m just getting into this. So is Scheels in the dem column like Martin vs Gibson? We have Bass Pro here but I never heard of Scheels.

What was the “Humph!” for?

[MagnoliaB]

I could probably count on one hand, with fingers left over, the number of BassPro shoppers that give a rip what this pathetic administration says. If the government makes too much of a stink about their “alleged allegations”, it will probably give BPS a spike in sales. In fact, just by coincidence, I will be near a BPS this weekend. I was already planning to go since I never miss an opportunity to go to their store but now I will drop as many bucks as I can there.

[dog breath]

Large companies are hit all the time with things like this. I remember that the local Sears store had a vastly incompetent lady working in a big ticket area who accused them of racial discrimination when they finally fired her. They gave her money to settle the accusation, terrified of getting bad press for blacks constituted a big part of the customer base. I do know black fishermen and hunters, not very many but some, they are a minority in a minority. I can't see Pro Bass not making them prove this in court, blacks are not a significant part of their customer base.

[C. Edmund Wright]

>>> I think it’s a defensible position to let somebody go, despite their abilities and qualifications, if it’s hurting your customer relations >>>

It has to be defensible, because “hurting customer relations” means it is hurting your sales which means it is putting your business at risk. If liberal TV networks can discriminate on looks and voice tone and so on because they want their viewers (ie customer base) to like their on air talent, then a Bass Pro Shop or a Hooters or a hardware store or a pawn shop can discriminate to please their customers too.

It’s the same concept. And by the way, if anyone were to be offended by Bass Pro Shops hiring of mostly a certain type of person - then they are free to shop somewhere else - say at Dicks - where the profile might be different.

Like I said, it’s called liberty. It works if left alone.

[Eye of Unk]

When I see how affirmative action resulted in who is currently POTUS I am all in favor of supporting the Bass Pro Shops decisions.

If a person is qualified they should get fair and equal treatment, NOT special sympathetic oh your race were slaves we are sorry, here is the keys to my car, my house and my bank account.

I hire a person to elevate my business productivity. If that person by race appears to influence negative profits then I am making a bad hiring decision.

And the same applies for our elected officials. Race does cause an impact.

[Jonty30]

I agree with you.

And as I said, it works well enough, if left alone, to allow people to overcome their various hang-ups about other people.

[The Duke]

If that’s true, then I have no issue with the investigation. That kind of thing shouldn’t be going on no matter what kind of store it is.

Not me, I want people to be able to hire and fire for any reason they want. I would not personally shop at a store with racist policies, but I want all Americans to have the freedom even to be stupid.

[The Duke]

This is just the warm-ups for ... NASCAR!!!

[Graybeard58]

I am witholding judgement here. There has to be more to this story, just like the Gibson Guitars story. Bass Pro is considering building a new superstore in Peoria, which means they would be hiring people. Something doesn’t smell right here.

Already built, up and running in East Peoria, which to the those unfamiliar with the area, is across the Illinois River from Peoria, in a different county.

They have hired a ton of people.

[Rebelbase]

:-)

[AnAmericanAbroad]

I agree that it’s difficult to imagine an HR person saying something so amazingly stupid, but then again, people say truly stupid things all the time. If it’s legit, and then there’s a case.

Rule number 4,283; Always make sure your brain is in gear before you engage your mouth.

[Straight8]

I agree. When did the feds investigate “no shirt, no shoes, no service”? Never. And for good reason.

[Hugin]

Personally, I don’t beleive anything that comes from Eric Holder’s Just Us Department, especially with regards to race, and businesses with Republican owners.

[MestaMachine]

So what is going on with this then? I got this info on the fly from someone else because I don’t know the details myself. That is why I prefaced it the way I did. My concern is WHO is/are Bass Pro’s major competitors and which column are they in. There are just getting to be too many high profile political hits going on out there for me to think this is just a coincidence. Like all the Republican-owned auto dealerships. Gibson Guitars. Whatever.

[woofie]

I’ve had my eyes open for undercover fish enthusiasts for some time....You can usually spot them when cleaning fish as they are squeamish

[Jonty30]

I thought that was what wives were for. :D