FCC Issues $26,000 EEO Fine

The full Commission recently issued an Order assessing a $26,000 monetary forfeiture for a broadcast licensee’s failure to upload an annual EEO public file report to the public files and websites of the stations in a specific station employment unit.  The public file upload finally occurred 9 months after the deadline.

While there were aggravating circumstances that increased the amount of the assessed forfeiture (prior EEO reporting violations), the FCC’s conclusion that a single late-uploaded/posted EEO public file report supported an overall conclusion that the licensee had not been regularly evaluating its EEO program is notable.  Stations that must complete the annual report should be especially vigilant to ensure that the report is timely uploaded to the online public file of every station in the station employment unit and posted to their websites.