In late 2006, Sony BMG dismantled its Sony Urban Music label. Artists Wyclef Jean, Three 6 Mafia, and Beyoncé were then shifted to subsidiary Columbia. In case you didn't notice, these artists are all black, which just so happens to be the same skin color of all the employees who were laid off from a Manhattan sales office, according to a story in the New York Post.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ruled that a Sony BMG office "overwhelmingly" targeted black employees during the merger restructuring of 2004. The office consisted of seven black workers, eight white, and one Asian (gong would sound here if I were racist). After the restructuring, however, six employees were laid off -- and they were all black.
Predictably, the EEOC ruling provides ex-employees a good opportunity to sue. But of course! Now claiming she "was the victim of race discrimination," ex-employee Tamieka Blair initially accepted the layoff, until the ex-employees called each other and "realized it was all the black people." (That's like getting laid off from a job, but only getting pissed after finding out it was due to your skin color -- oh wait, that's exactly what this is! Funny.)
Thanks to an insider, who looks kinda Native American, TMT was lucky enough to obtain a copy of the Manhattan office's restructuring plan:
Of course, Sony BMG claims its layoff decisions were based on job performance, while the EEOC said Sony BMG "no documented procedure for determining who the best players were" and "lacked performance standards." Either way, I can't stop laughing!
In more PR disaster news, Sony BMG recently announced rootkit settlements with 41 states and the District of Columbia to the tune of $5.75 million and erected a new, fancy website that allows customers to file claims. Meanwhile, the EU is still re-examining the Sony BMG merger and is expected to make a decision on its fate soonish.
That break was too long wasn't it?
