CBS Suspends Two Executives Accused of Racist and Sexist Conduct

NEW YORK TIMES

CBS has placed two top TV executives on leave after a report detailing accusations that they had created a hostile work environment, including making disparaging remarks about female and Black employees.

The executives, Peter Dunn, the president of CBS television stations, and David Friend, the senior vice president of news for TV stations, were placed on administrative leave pending the results of a third-party investigation, the company said in a statement on Monday. The suspensions came after The Los Angeles Times published a report on Sunday in which employees accused the executives of “bullying female managers and blocking efforts to hire and retain Black journalists.” read more »

'A third' of women have experienced sexual harassment at tech conferences

YAHOO

One in three women reported having experienced sexual harassment at a tech conference, bringing into question how far gender parity has come in the industry. That’s according to Ensono’s annual Speak Up report, which looks at how tech conferences can be redesigned with women in mind.

The research surveyed 500 women across the US and UK who had attended a tech conference to uncover their experiences. The report found that harassment had got worse since last year, when one in four women polled said they had faced it. read more »

'A culture of fear': inside a shocking film on how cheerleaders are treated

THE GUARDIAN

“A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem,” a documentary completed in 2019 and now available on demand, traces the protracted, hard-won efforts by cheerleaders across the league to compel the NFL to fairly compensate its most visible female employees.

Since Maria Pinzone, one of two former cheerleaders followed by the film-maker Yu Gu as they sought compensation for minimum-wage back pay and legal fees, and four teammates filed a lawsuit against the Jills, their managers and the Bills in 2014, the NFL, which generated over $15 billion in revenue in 2019, has come under increased scrutiny for widespread underpayment, restrictive contracts and mistreatment of its cheerleaders. Ten out of the 26 NFL teams with cheerleaders have since faced lawsuits alleging wage theft, sexual harassment, body-shaming, hostile work environments, criminally low pay (some as low as $2.85 an hour), and “blatant discrimination.” read more »

What Jeffrey Epstein Did to Earn $158 Million From Leon Black

NEW YORK TIMES

What did Jeffrey Epstein do to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from a handful of wealthy clients like the private equity billionaire Leon Black? The answer: Help rich people pay less in taxes.

In the case of Mr. Black, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management, his advice could have been worth as much as $2 billion in savings, according to a law firm’s review of Mr. Black’s business dealings with Mr. Epstein. On Monday, Mr. Black announced that he would step down as Apollo’s chief executive this year after the review found he had paid Mr. Epstein $158 million over five years for his services. read more »