NAL Highlights Need for Broadcaster EEO Compliance

A proposed $25,000 forfeiture against a small radio broadcaster shows that stations need to recruit broadly and adhere to FCC equal employment opportunity rules, said Wiley broadcast attorney Kate Dickerson in an online post. The FCC enforcement bureau issued a notice of apparent liability earlier this month against Rocking M and Melia Media, two Kansas radio groups owned by Monte and Doris Miller. According to the NAL, the broadcaster late-filed EEO reports, didn’t recruit adequately for vacancies and failed to adequately document EEO recruitment efforts. The stations told the agency that their businesses were disrupted by COVID-19 and the departure of a CEO. “Relying on a licensee’s own private contacts, such as employee or client referrals, is not recruitment as contemplated under the Commission’s rules,” which require public outreach, the NAL said. “The lesson for broadcasters here is to use a variety of sources -- including online sources with a broad reach, such as Indeed, and more locally focused sources such as a college or university -- to advertise full-time job openings,” Dickerson wrote. A broadcaster should also “get in the habit of taking screenshots or retaining job-posting confirmation emails for each and every online source it utilizes,” said Dickerson. Broadcasters should also periodically review their recruitment sources, Dickerson said. “If the same sources are referring applicants over and over, the broadcaster should consider adding additional sources (preferably, local sources and sources targeted at relevant minority populations),” she wrote.