Shirley Hancock, former KOIN Anchor, discusses her pay dispute with station owners.
Beachcomber
BRENT HUNSBERGER
The Oregonian
Shirley Hancock spent years delivering KOIN (6) news sitting next to
male co-anchors who were paid tens of thousands of dollars more than
she was.
As she read a story about women's pay disparity during a live newscast
at the Portland station, "it just clicked -- I was part of a much
larger problem," she said.
"I wanted to shout, 'I'm one of those women!' " Hancock recalled.
Six months after settling a lawsuit against the station and its
owners, Hancock broke her silence about her experience as part of
today's Equal Pay Day. The National Committee on Pay Equity, an
advocacy group in Washington, D.C., launched the observance in 1996 to
call attention to the difference between men's and women's
compensation.
Recent U.S. Census Bureau figures show that for the first time since
1998-99, the pay gap between the genders got slightly worse, the
committee said. Women working year-round and full time made 76 cents
for every dollar men earned, according to 2003 Census figures, down
from 77 cents the year before.
Hancock enjoyed an 18-year career at KOIN, moving from reporter to the
anchor's chair within a year of being hired. In June 2001, the
station's new owner, Emmis Communications Corp. of Indianapolis,
declined to renew her contract.
A year later, Hancock sued the station, Emmis and its previous owner,
Lee Enterprises. She accused them of age and sex discrimination,
retaliation and violating the federal Equal Pay Act. The parties
settled the suit confidentially in October.
Hancock, in an interview, declined to identify anchors who were paid
more than she was. But according to an opinion filed in her case by
U.S. District Court JudgeGarr King, from 1998 to 2001, KOIN paid
Hancock $69,680 to $84,265 a year less than the average salaries of
anchors Mike Donahue and Jeff Gianola.
KOIN's owners attributed the pay differences to the male anchors'
higher ratings and Donahue's longer tenure in TV news, court documents
show. But King noted that KOIN paid Gianola more than Donahue, even
though Donahue had more experience. King also found the ratings
research on each anchor "far from clear."
Reached Monday, a spokeswoman for Emmis declined to comment on the
specifics of Hancock's allegations.
"Emmis is fully committed to equal opportunity and full pay at all its
properties," said Kate Snedeker, a spokeswoman for the company, which
owns 41 radio and television stations nationwide. "I think it's
unfortunate (Hancock) hasn't been able to move on."
Hancock is devoting time to a "family adventure" in the Caribbean,
doing public relations and charity work while her husband completes a
two-year assignment for a telecommunications company. She said the
family intends to return to Oregon. The mother of three kept quiet
about her experience during the two years the lawsuit was brewing but
revealed details of her fight in an e-mail interview over the weekend
and into Monday:
Why break your silence now? Why is this important?
It's a commitment I made to myself and the many people who risked a
lot by their willingness to tell the truth. Also, I have a 12-year-old
daughter, who shouldn't have to face this same issue when she enters
the work force. In addition, this is not just a "woman's" issue, it's
a "family" issue. If a female is contributing to your overall
household income, chances are your family is losing out on roughly
$4,000 dollars a year due to pay disparity.
You say for nearly 20 years you asked KOIN to fix a pay inequity
problem. How specifically do you think you experienced wage
discrimination and retaliation?
During every contract "negotiation," I broached the subject. Even when
I was anchoring three No. 1 newscasts, with three different male
anchors, I was offered a contract that was below what the primary male
anchors made doing the same or even fewer newscasts. In one instance,
it was a six-figure disparity. In 2001, I guess I no longer feared
losing my job. They told me my research and my work was great, and
would I please return to anchoring all of the primary evening
newscasts. I explained they needed to finally pay me what my co-anchor
gets for doing the same work. At that point, they began to cancel or
reschedule subsequent negotiation sessions. Soon after that, and my
Rose Festival duties, I was let go.
How much less were you paid than your male colleagues?
Our newsroom first read in the newspaper about a new KOIN anchor's
salary, and it was a six-figure difference from my own. As part of our
investigation, we confirmed the differences, not only for the current
situation but for my entire career at KOIN.
Why do you think women continue to be paid differently than men doing
the same or similar work?
(In) a survey by The Washington Post, Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation and Harvard University, 43 percent of men believe a major
reason women do not advance to top-level executive positions is
because men don't want women to get ahead in the workplace. In
addition, corporate cultures often intimidate workers by making it
taboo to discuss salaries, and suing is not a practical remedy for
most women, for even if they win, they may be labeled a troublemaker.
Current laws are not strong enough, and many companies are oddly
stubborn about simply reviewing their workplace conditions and pay
practices. Human resources departments can easily perform internal
audits to reveal potential areas of liability. See the free audit on
the National Committee on Pay Equity Web site at:
http://www.payequity.org/.
What kind of reaction have you gotten, inside and outside the TV news
industry, to your lawsuit?
I'm asked about it by everyone from the grocery store checker to
female Portland executives. One well-known former board member of a
major Portland company said to me, "You're not going to let them get
away with this, are you?" It's disturbing though -- in the 21st
century, women of all ages having similar stories.
What would you advise women who are wondering about their own salaries
or companies worried they are at risk?
First, have a professional chat with your employer about your
concerns. Document your concerns and any evidence in support. If you
need information on how to resolve a personal situation involving
unfair pay, call the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at
800-669-4000 and the Equal Rights Advocates Advice and Counseling
Hotline at 800-839-4372.
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Anyone have any comments on this story?
At first glance, my thought were this is just a sour-grapes story
about a high-powered, privileged woman, who might have just been a bad
negotiator or just plain stupid when it comes to negotiating a salary.
This story raises some disturbing questions about some things that you
and I and most mere mortals simply cannot do, go back to our former
employers, subpoena the pay records of our fellow employees, and claim
that we were underpaid for years and years.
The station's management apparently settled to quiet down the
particularly touchy issue of comparative pay levels of some big-ego
entertainment talents.
So what do you think? Did Shirley experience pay discrimination? Are
news anchors equal pay for equal work jobs regardless of background
and experience?
Beachcomber
gatt
"Beachcomber" <not_...@xxx.yyy> wrote in message
> So what do you think? Did Shirley experience pay discrimination? Are
> news anchors equal pay for equal work jobs regardless of background
> and experience?
I believe it's extremely possible. I'd trust her more than the company,
based on what I know about the media industry in general. There was
simply not ~$75,000/yr worth of difference between her and Gianola.
-c
Russell Senior
gatt> I believe it's extremely possible. I'd trust her more than the
gatt> company, based on what I know about the media industry in
gatt> general. There was simply not ~$75,000/yr worth of difference
gatt> between her and Gianola.
It depends on whether you want to carry your math into the negative
number regime.
--
Russell Senior ``I have nine fingers; you have ten.''
sen...@aracnet.com
Lobby Dosser
>>>>>> "gatt" == gatt <ga...@freeradical.nyet> writes:
>
> gatt> I believe it's extremely possible. I'd trust her more than the
> gatt> company, based on what I know about the media industry in
> gatt> general. There was simply not ~$75,000/yr worth of difference
> gatt> between her and Gianola.
>
> It depends on whether you want to carry your math into the negative
> number regime.
>
>
Is Gianola the one that does the weird head snap? If so, he should be
pushing a broom.
Paul Johnson
> Is Gianola the one that does the weird head snap? If so, he should be
> pushing a broom.
Who cares? With KOIN's "news" department being barely better than watching
Hard Copy or CNN, if you watch their news, you're dumber than they think
you are...
--
Paul Johnson
Email and Instant Messenger (Jabber): ba...@ursine.ca
http://ursine.ca/~baloo/