Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against Dick's Sporting Goods for Funding Abortions, Not Offering Paid Maternity Care

Steve Warren
07-15-2022

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A federal civil rights complaint has been filed against a major sports retailer by a conservative legal organization for promoting abortions among its employees, while at the same time, not providing matching paid maternity care.  

America First Legal (AFL) asked the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Wednesday to open a civil rights investigation of DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. for multiple violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.

Responding to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which struck down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision which legalized abortion nationwide, Dick's Sporting Goods President and CEO Lauren Hobart on June 24 announced a special employment benefit of "up to $4,000" in travel reimbursement for an employee, spouse, or dependent, along with one support person, to obtain an abortion.  

Although Title VII prohibits discrimination based on childbirth, Dick's does not offer an equivalent paid benefit to a mother who has her baby, the AFL said in its four-page letter to the EEOC.

"The Company's decision to provide the 'travel benefit' – which is properly classified both as compensation and/or as a privilege of employment – to a pregnant woman who chooses to abort her child, while denying any equivalent compensation or benefit to a pregnant woman who chooses life, facially violates the statute. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a)(1); 2000e(k)."

Title VII also prohibits discrimination because of race, color, national origin, or sex. However, the AFL also alleges in its letter that Dick's uses quotas in its workforce, and is specifically recruiting, hiring, and/or promoting workers because of race, color, national origin, or sex. Such conduct is patently illegal, the AFL said in its letter to Hobart. 

"Subsidizing travel for an abortion, while denying an equivalent benefit to a mother welcoming a new baby, is perverse and unlawful,"  AFL Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight Reed D. Rubinstein said in a statement. "Using racial balancing and quotas in hiring and promotion, as the company claims that it does, has been illegal for decades. DICK'S management is an avatar for the rot and danger of corporate wokeness."

CBN News has reached out to Dick's Sporting Goods for comment. We will publish their response here if we hear back.

As CBN's Faithwire reported, the company was one of several major corporations across the country that announced they were adding abortion travel costs to their employee benefits packages following the Supreme Court's ruling on June 24.

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of
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