Proposed EEO Data Collection Wouldn't Increase Diversity, NAB Tells Starks Office
An FCC proposal on equal employment opportunity reporting for broadcasters would collect data that the agency wouldn’t be able to use and increase paperwork burdens for broadcasters by reinstating Form 395-B, said NAB last week in a call with an…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
aide to FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks, according to an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 98-204. Starks has been a vocal proponent of the proposed rule (see Ref:2107260059]). U.S. Supreme Court decisions made it unlawful for the agency to use EEO data as a tool to increase diversity, NAB said. Since the FCC can't use the data to compel hiring practices, it isn't clear what purpose the data would serve, NAB said. A “hypothetical report (or reports) is not likely to add any more diversity to the industry,” NAB said. The trade group also questioned the proposed use of EEO data to create reports to Congress. The EEO further NPRM “does not address with any specificity” the purpose of the reports “and thus it is hard to envision how reinstating Form 395-B would be a fruitful exercise,” NAB said.