In March 2021, a digital marketing consultant who spent nearly a decade at CBS from 2006 through late 2015 joined the company that owns and operates two of the most iconic radio stations serving African Americans in the New York Tri-State region. In just three short months, he was promoted to VP of Digital Operations and Monetization.
Now, he’s taking Mediaco Holding Inc. to court for alleged violations of the New York Labor Law and the New York Human Rights Law.
Stanley Pillman III, through his attorneys at Valli Kane & Vagnini LLP, filed the complaint on Monday (3/25) in Supreme Court of the State of New York, with a request for a jury trial.
With damages sought through a civil action, Pillman claims that he is the victim of racial discrimination.
The matter focuses on a meeting Pillman says was held in or around January 2023, at which Mediaco CEO Rahsan-Rahsan Lindsay and President/COO Brad Tobin were present.
In the legal filing, Pillman’s attorneys note that Lindsay is Black while Tobin is White. This, they say, is critical to the case. As Mediaco is the owner of Hip-Hop WQHT “Hot 97” and Adult R&B WBLS, Pillman states that at this meeting Lindsay noted that “there was a feeling around the office that he did not know anything about hip-hop and needed to listen” to Hot 97.
As the conversation continued, as Pillman recalls it, he finally inquired, “Are you trying to say I am too White for the job?”
Lindsay, as Pillman believes, said yes in response to the question.
Pillman further accuses air personality “Funkmaster Flex,” whose legal name is Aston George Taylor Jr., of telling longtime programming executive Pio Ferro and Promotions Director Shamara McKenzie that “the White boys are stealing from us” — allegedly referring to Pillman and Tobin.
Pillman in July 2023 then decided to make a complaint with Human Resources alleging that SVP/Sales Gwynet Charles-Bryant and Funkmaster Flex were involved in “potential kick-backs and theft of company funds.”
One month later, Pillman’s then-legal counsel wrote to Mediaco with the first allegations of workplace discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment.
Two weeks later, on Aug. 31, 2023, Pillman was relieved of his duties — something he says was a retaliatory move. His eventual full-time successor is Black, Pillman noted in the legal filing.
Now, Pillman wants the court to decide if he is the victim of discrimination and liable for damages.
Mediaco had not responded to the allegations as of RBR+TVBR‘s Wednesday afternoon deadline of 4:30pm Eastern.
