# Can you legally ban someone from your retail store simply for being a obnoxious jerk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330 "2005-09-06T13:32:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/21 "2005-09-07T02:02:55Z")
Ulysses Everett McGill is still wondering if his banishment from Woolworth’s was local or regional in nature. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/22 "2005-09-07T02:45:32Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Actually, I don’t think you could legally do that. You’d be banning for reasons of group affiliation, not individual bad behavior. I can’t imagine that a judge wouldn’t find that illegally discriminatory in some fashion. To my knowledge, it’s not illegal unless the group affiliation is with a protected class. It’s one thing to ban black folks, or the handicapped, or what-have-you. But banning another arbitrary group of your choosing? I don’t think there’s any law against that. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/23 "2005-09-07T02:52:33Z")
**Excalibre** is correct. Of course, the precise borderline between what is a protected class and what is not can vary, depending on the sitauation and applicable state (or even municipal) law. I’m not aware of any sitaution where _member of Congress_ would be considered a protected class, though. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/24 "2005-09-07T03:20:14Z")
> [@Random](#): > > **Excalibre** is correct. Of course, the precise borderline between what is a protected class and what is not can vary, depending on the sitauation and applicable state (or even municipal) law. I’m not aware of any sitaution where _member of Congress_ would be considered a protected class, though. So I could ban (known) members of the NAACP from my bar if I was so inclined? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/25 "2005-09-07T03:25:56Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > “Oh, I called the BBB for you. Here you go. You can tell the nice man exactly what your problem is.”. You are my hero. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/26 "2005-09-07T03:46:27Z")
> [@astro](#): > > So I could ban (known) members of the NAACP from my bar if I was so inclined? In theory? Sure. Good luck convincing a judge that it’s not a pretext for banning blacks, though. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/27 "2005-09-07T04:03:49Z")
> [@Random](#): > > In theory? Sure. Good luck convincing a judge that it’s not a pretext for banning blacks, though. On the whole I think banning congressman from a top flight DC restaurant might make for better entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/28 "2005-09-07T04:28:46Z")
Agree entirely. That’s a reality show that even I would watch. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/29 "2005-09-07T06:40:08Z")
> [@Random](#): > > In theory? Sure. Good luck convincing a judge that it’s not a pretext for banning blacks, though. Very few African-Americans are actually members of the NAACP though (and other races can join) so you might get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mesquite-oh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@Mesquite-oh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mesquite-oh)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330/30 "2005-09-07T07:55:38Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=333597) about obnoxious customers made me wonder if an owner of a retail establishment could walk up to a customer making a noisy fuss and (after immediate problem is resolved) legally ban them from ever re-entering the store. As a 17 year old, my friends and I earned a lifetime ban from a convenience store in 1984 (All over a little misunderstanding about the legal drinking age, involving multiple cop cars, planted evidence, jailarity for two members of my party). While visiting my hometown with my teenage daughter this summer, she dared me to go in and buy something. I planned the job with a mock up of the convenience store that I built in my garage to prepare for any possible convenience store staff/police/ATF response. After practicing for a few days to get my timing down, I felt that I was ready. With nerves of steel, I walked in and bought her a soda and a pack of gum with two small unmarked bills. Lucky for me, the clerk was not born in 1984 and the operation was successful! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-legally-ban-someone-from-your-retail-store-simply-for-being-a-obnoxious-jerk/320330.md?page=1)