The publisher of music industry bible Billboard forced his editor in chief to tailor news coverage to please advertisers while fostering an office environment that allowed sexual harassment and racial discrimination to flourish, according to explosive allegations made public in a lawsuit filed yesterday in New York Supreme Court.
In the complaint, former Billboard staffers Keith Girard and Samantha Chang are seeking $30 million in damages under New York law for gender- and race-based discrimination and defamation, among other charges, from a group of defendants that include Billboard parent VNU and the publication’s publisher, John Kilcullen, and executive editor, Ken Schlager.
Both Girard, the former editor in chief, and Chang, a former senior editor in charge of legal affairs, were dismissed by Billboard in late May. They are being represented by Kyle Bisceglie, a litigator with Barton Barton & Plotkin LLP.
Among the more salacious allegations involve a “green phallic vibrator, of the type normally intended for sexual use,” kept in the office by Schlager. In one instance, Schlager showed Chang the device, saying, “and the batteries still work,” the filing states.
A Billboard spokesperson declined comment.
Schlager also would joke about Chang’s Asian ethnicity, according the complaint. “At weekly Billboard editorial meetings, whenever a news item [or] other issue involving Asia came up, it became a running joke among Schlager and/or others to comment that ‘oh, that’s something for Samantha to handle,’ usually causing laughter among the staff,” the suit states.
The suit states that Kilcullen, the publisher, routinely intervened in editorial matters to ensure that stories or editorial cartoons did not anger Billboard advertisers – despite telling Girard at the time of his hiring in 2003 that he would have complete control over the editorial side of the trade publication.
In a memo to Girard from Kilcullen, which is excerpted in the complaint, Kilcullen wrote: “I want you to avoid writing provocative headlines or employing photos and cartoons that are not in the best interest of [Billboard Information Group] . . . I need to review and approve front cover headlines and photos, cartoons and editorials.”
The relationship between Girard and Kilcullen deteriorated following an April 3 article on a Warner Music executive that Kilcullen felt went over the line and negatively affected relations between Warner and Billboard, according to the suit.
“Kilcullen also told Girard that Girard was the ‘brand steward’ of Billboard and that as such it was Girard’s responsibility to make Billboard attractive to advertisers,” the suit claims.
Shortly before the Warner story ran in Billboard, Girard received a fawning performance review and was given a $12,500 bonus, which the president of VNU Business Media – the parent company of Billboard – described as “unprecedented,” according to the complaint.
The suit also publicizes the long-running rumor that Chang and Girard had an affair – something the complaint states is “unsubstantiated and false.”
The complaint states that soon after Chang joined Billboard in September 2003, employees began chirping that “Girard had hired Chang to work at Billboard because Chang was his paramour, rather than for her professional skills and ability to make a valuable professional contribution to Billboard.”
Billboard’s human resources staff subsequently intervened, and Chang was eventually forced to report to Schlager, even though both parties adamantly denied ever having a romantic relationship.
Musical discord Billboard Magazine and parent company VNU were hit with a lawsuit by two fired editors. Among the allegations:
* Executives allowed sexual harassment and racial discrimination.
* Publisher John Kilcullen forced staff to tailor editorial coverage to please advertisers.
* Staffers spread false rumors of an affair between the two fired editors, Samantha Chang and Keith Girard.