Black Female Radio DJ, DJ Rane, Sues CBS Radio For Discrimination

EASY. PAY THE LADY WHAT SHE’S WORTH. MY QUESTION IS WHY DID SHE TAKE SOOOOO LONG TO BRING THIS OUT? I SUPPOSE WE SOMETIMES THINK THE JOB IS WORTH MORE THAN ALL THE HARD WORK WE PUT IN TO GET THERE. MOREOVER, IT STOPS BEING FUN WHEN YOU DON’T GET PAID FOR YOUR EFFORTS AND COMMITMENT TO OUR INDUSTRY. I ONLY HOPE SHE GETS MORE THAN SHE IS ASKING FOR.

Interesting mix of issues here. On the one hand, if she and her on-air partner did the same work with no written or implied “pecking order” for the show (regerdless of how it was marketed), then it seems “Rane” has an excellent case for back pay. The Maryland law that is cited may help here as well. Question…Is there an actual contract or other written agreement? If there is and there was no breach, that won’t help. If there was a breach…more ammo for “Rane”. All the best in her quest. My long experience (nearly 40 years)tells me that these things are always an uphill journey, to say the least.

On the other hand, when it comes to academic degrees, they generally don’t matter in the broadcast business, especially on the talent side. Unlike education, accounting and some other fields, the notion of higher degree = higher salary simply does not exist UNLESS it’s written into an individual contract. In many places, folks are walking into positions like this straight out of broadcast schools, degree or no degree. The thing that matters most to those that hire talent is what happens when the mic opens.