By Victoria Mejicanos
AFRO Staff Writer
Sinclair Broadcast Group will hand over $100,000 dollars in back pay and compensatory and punitive damages to settle a race discrimination case filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the lawsuit, Jonae Rollins worked at the company’s IT business unit at their Maryland headquarters first on a part-time basis, and then as a permanent employee.
The complaint states that Sinclair “paid Ms. Rollins less than it paid employees who are not Black to perform similar work.” The complaint also states that Rollins was assigned work that White employees were either unavailable to perform or could not perform, but continued to be paid less.
When she reported the pay disparity to her manager and to human resources at Sinclair, the company repeatedly refused to adjust her salary to remedy the unequal pay, despite bringing the disparity to their attention several times and she was eventually fired.
EOCC stated in a press release that Sinclair’s alleged conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race discrimination. The settlement requires Sinclair to “provide periodic reporting, monitoring, and training to employees to ensure compliance with Title VII. The decree also requires Sinclair to maintain policies stating it does not prohibit employees from discussing or disclosing their pay.”
“No worker should be subjected to unequal pay because of their race,” said EEOC Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “The EEOC is committed to enforcing Title VII’s prohibition against race discrimination.”
Sinclair responded with a statement to the AFRO stating that they are paying the settlement to prevent costs of legal fees and did not admit wrongdoing.
“Sinclair has entered into a consent decree to resolve this matter without any admission of wrongdoing, allowing us to move forward and avoid unnecessary further legal expense. We remain committed to maintaining an inclusive workplace and will fully comply with the decree’s terms,” said the statement.
This is not the first EOCC settlement for Sinclair, according to the press release. The agency sued the company twice in September 2022. The first lawsuit accused Sinclair of disability discrimination for firing an employee after learning she had a disability.
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