Women's Rights Employment Law Blog

Taylor Mason of New Music First, writes about the discrimination suit pending against Sony-BMG.

Former BMG marketing rep Tamieka Blair is expected to file a racial discrimination lawsuit against Sony BMG Music, alleging her wrongful termination upon the merging of Sony and BMG in 2004, according to Billboard.

The suit follows on the heels of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) finding that Blair was "a victim of race discrimination" last fall when an investigation by the EEOC revealed that 42 percent of African American employees of the sales enterprise unit were involuntarily terminated after the merger. Though Sony offered their employees a voluntary separation package, Blair was under the impression that her field marketing position in the BMG sales unit was secure and hesitated to accept the package out of fear that it might signal that she wanted to leave. The EEOC’s investigation concluded that Sony BMG "failed to provide a verifiable explanation for the overwhelmingly negative impact on black BMG employees, that is, that 42 percent of blacks and no whites were involuntarily terminated," the letter states. Officials at Sony BMG told the EEOC that they "sought to retain the 'best players,' but there is no documented procedure regarding the retention of said 'best players.'" At this time, there are no related claims pending on Sony BMG with the EEOC. The EEOC stated that they worked with associated parties after the conclusion, but there was no settlement.