FCC Proposes Fining Maryland Noncommercial Stations for EEO Violations

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed fining the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, licensee of five Maryland noncommercial stations, $20,000 for Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) violations and misleading the FCC, though with no finding that it was intentionally misled.

It could have levied a much heavier fine. In a notice of apparent liability, the FCC's Media Bureau said that the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission had "apparently willfully and repeatedly" violated its EEO rules by not notifying job referral entities of vacancies, by not doing a self-assessment of its EEO performance, as required, and by "providing incorrect factual information of a material nature to the Commission without a reasonable basis for believing that the information was correct and accurate."