Harassment charge goes right to The Source

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Nov 15, 1997 by Neil Cassidy

Attorney Hillary Richard is on the trail of yet another music magazine where men in positions of authority allegedly treat women staffers somewhat less than chivalrously. Richard, a partner with the New York City-based firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, successfully represented Staci Bonner, a former editorial staffer at Spin, in a sexual harassment lawsuit against Spin and former Spin publisher Bob Guccione Jr. in August.

Now Richard is assisting Janene Outlaw, who has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in New York, charging that the upper management at hip-hop magazine The Source tolerated "a hostile and abusive work environment."

As originally reported in the Village Voice, the 26-year-old Outlaw--who says she was pressured to quit her job as photo editor at The Source in September--charges in the complaint that she "was subjected to unwelcome sexual comments [and] sexual advances" from her male coworkers. In another parallel to b. ex the Spin case, Outlaw claims that she was informed that she would "receive job benefits in exchange for sexual favors."

Alleges publisher was present

"Janene alleges that [The Source publisher David Mays] was present when offensive comments were made, as were other male editors at a supervisory level, and didn't do anything about it," says Richard "We allege that [Mays] was aware of what was going on because of its pervasive nature." Mays, only 28 himself, had no comment on the allegations, and his behavior toward Outlaw is apparently not under scrutiny.

The EEOC has 180 days to complete its own investigation before forwarding the complaint to The Source, asking for a response to its allegations. If the EEOC is too backlogged or is otherwise unable to look into the case, Outlaw and Richard can then prepare their own lawsuit against the title.

Richard initially won her discrimination and sexual harassment suit against Spin and Guccione last April, but the jury's award of initial damages ($90,000 in compensatory damages and $10,000 in back pay) wasn't even enough to cover plaintiff Staci Bonner's court costs. A subsequent affirmation of the ruling in August, however, increased Bonner's award to $750,000 in legal fees and vindicated both her and Richard.

Magazine's success continues

This comes at an otherwise auspicious time for the book. Circulation for The Source--which Mays established in 1988 as a two-page mimeographed newsletter while he was a sophomore at Harvard--was 357,215 for the six months ended June 30. That's a 12,,000-plus increase over the first half of 1996, according to ABC figures. Ad pages for the September issue totaled 143--a 35 percent gain over the 106 pages run in the September 1996 issue, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.

The title just became the largest single-copy seller among music titles, beating heavyweights like Rolling Stone and Spin, and Mays has sought to capitalize on his success by testing a spin-off-title, The Source Sports. The introductory issue, a preview of the upcoming college and professional basketball seasons, hit newstands in early October. It's a successful business, Richard admits, but management of the day-to-day workplace "isn't commensurate with its success in the market."