
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 47USC554]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
                  SUBCHAPTER V-A--CABLE COMMUNICATIONS
 
                    Part IV--Miscellaneous Provisions
 
Sec. 554. Equal employment opportunity


(a) Entities within scope of coverage

    This section shall apply to any corporation, partnership, 
association, joint-stock company, or trust engaged primarily in the 
management or operation of any cable system.

(b) Discrimination prohibited

    Equal opportunity in employment shall be afforded by each entity 
specified in subsection (a) of this section, and no person shall be 
discriminated against in employment by such entity because of race, 
color, religion, national origin, age, or sex.

(c) Equal opportunity programs; establishment; maintenance; execution; 
        terms

    Any entity specified in subsection (a) of this section shall 
establish, maintain, and execute a positive continuing program of 
specific practices designed to ensure equal opportunity in every aspect 
of its employment policies and practices. Under the terms of its 
program, each such entity shall--
        (1) define the responsibility of each level of management to 
    ensure a positive application and vigorous enforcement of its policy 
    of equal opportunity, and establish a procedure to review and 
    control managerial and supervisory performance;
        (2) inform its employees and recognized employee organizations 
    of the equal employment opportunity policy and program and enlist 
    their cooperation;
        (3) communicate its equal employment opportunity policy and 
    program and its employment needs to sources of qualified applicants 
    without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, or 
    sex, and solicit their recruitment assistance on a continuing basis;
        (4) conduct a continuing program to exclude every form of 
    prejudice or discrimination based on race, color, religion, national 
    origin, age, or sex, from its personnel policies and practices and 
    working conditions; and
        (5) conduct a continuing review of job structure and employment 
    practices and adopt positive recruitment, training, job design, and 
    other measures needed to ensure genuine equality of opportunity to 
    participate fully in all its organizational units, occupations, and 
    levels of responsibility.

(d) Revision of rules; required provisions; annual statistical report; 
        notice and comment on amendments

    (1) Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Cable 
Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, and after 
notice and opportunity for hearing, the Commission shall prescribe 
revisions in the rules under this section in order to implement the 
amendments made to this section by such Act. Such revisions shall be 
designed to promote equality of employment opportunities for females and 
minorities in each of the job categories itemized in paragraph (3).
    (2) Such rules shall specify the terms under which an entity 
specified in subsection (a) of this section shall, to the extent 
possible--
        (A) disseminate its equal opportunity program to job applicants, 
    employees, and those with whom it regularly does business;
        (B) use minority organizations, organizations for women, media, 
    educational institutions, and other potential sources of minority 
    and female applicants, to supply referrals whenever jobs are 
    available in its operation;
        (C) evaluate its employment profile and job turnover against the 
    availability of minorities and women in its franchise area;
        (D) undertake to offer promotions of minorities and women to 
    positions of greater responsibility;
        (E) encourage minority and female entrepreneurs to conduct 
    business with all parts of its operation; and
        (F) analyze the results of its efforts to recruit, hire, 
    promote, and use the services of minorities and women and explain 
    any difficulties encountered in implementing its equal employment 
    opportunity program.

    (3)(A) Such rules also shall require an entity specified in 
subsection (a) of this section with more than 5 full-time employees to 
file with the Commission an annual statistical report identifying by 
race, sex, and job title the number of employees in each of the 
following full-time and part-time job categories:
        (i) Corporate officers.
        (ii) General Manager.
        (iii) Chief Technician.
        (iv) Comptroller.
        (v) General Sales Manager.
        (vi) Production Manager.
        (vii) Managers.
        (viii) Professionals.
        (ix) Technicians.
        (x) Sales Personnel.
        (xi) Office and Clerical Personnel.
        (xii) Skilled Craftspersons.
        (xiii) Semiskilled Operatives.
        (xiv) Unskilled Laborers.
        (xv) Service Workers.

    (B) The report required by subparagraph (A) shall be made on 
separate forms, provided by the Commission, for full-time and part-time 
employees. The Commission's rules shall sufficiently define the job 
categories listed in clauses (i) through (vi) of such subparagraph so as 
to ensure that only employees who are principal decisionmakers and who 
have supervisory authority are reported for such categories. The 
Commission shall adopt rules that define the job categories listed in 
clauses (vii) through (xv) in a manner that is consistent with the 
Commission policies in effect on June 1, 1990. The Commission shall 
prescribe the method by which entities shall be required to compute and 
report the number of minorities and women in the job categories listed 
in clauses (i) through (x) and the number of minorities and women in the 
job categories listed in clauses (i) through (xv) in proportion to the 
total number of qualified minorities and women in the relevant labor 
market. The report shall include information on hiring, promotion, and 
recruitment practices necessary for the Commission to evaluate the 
efforts of entities to comply with the provisions of paragraph (2) of 
this subsection. The report shall be available for public inspection at 
the entity's central location and at every location where 5 or more 
full-time employees are regularly assigned to work. Nothing in this 
subsection shall be construed as prohibiting the Commission from 
collecting or continuing to collect statistical or other employment 
information in a manner that it deems appropriate to carry out this 
section.
    (4) The Commission may amend such rules from time to time to the 
extent necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. Any such 
amendment shall be made after notice and opportunity for comment.

(e) Annual certification of compliance; periodic investigation of 
        employment practices

    (1) On an annual basis, the Commission shall certify each entity 
described in subsection (a) of this section as in compliance with this 
section if, on the basis of information in the possession of the 
Commission, including the report filed pursuant to subsection (d)(3) of 
this section, such entity was in compliance, during the annual period 
involved, with the requirements of subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this 
section.
    (2) The Commission shall, periodically but not less frequently than 
every five years, investigate the employment practices of each entity 
described in subsection (a) of this section, in the aggregate, as well 
as in individual job categories, and determine whether such entity is in 
compliance with the requirements of subsections (b), (c), and (d) of 
this section, including whether such entity's employment practices deny 
or abridge women and minorities equal employment opportunities. As part 
of such investigation, the Commission shall review whether the entity's 
reports filed pursuant to subsection (d)(3) of this section accurately 
reflect employee responsibilities in the reported job classifications.

(f) Substantial failure to comply; penalties; notice to public and 
        franchising authorities

    (1) If the Commission finds after notice and hearing that the entity 
involved has willfully or repeatedly without good cause failed to comply 
with the requirements of this section, such failure shall constitute a 
substantial failure to comply with this subchapter. The failure to 
obtain certification under subsection (e) of this section shall not 
itself constitute the basis for a determination of substantial failure 
to comply with this title. For purposes of this paragraph, the term 
``repeatedly'', when used with respect to failures to comply, refers to 
3 or more failures during any 7-year period.
    (2) Any person who is determined by the Commission, through an 
investigation pursuant to subsection (e) of this section or otherwise, 
to have failed to meet or failed to make best efforts to meet the 
requirements of this section, or rules under this section, shall be 
liable to the United States for a forfeiture penalty of $500 for each 
violation. Each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a 
separate offense. Any entity defined in subsection (a) of this section 
shall not be liable for more than 180 days of forfeitures which accrued 
prior to notification by the Commission of a potential violation. 
Nothing in this paragraph shall limit the forfeiture imposed on any 
person as a result of any violation that continues subsequent to such 
notification. In addition, any person liable for such penalty may also 
have any license under this chapter for cable auxiliary relay service 
suspended until the Commission determines that the failure involved has 
been corrected. Whoever knowingly makes any false statement or submits 
documentation which he knows to be false, pursuant to an application for 
certification under this section shall be in violation of this section.
    (3) The provisions of paragraphs (3) and (4), and the last 2 
sentences of paragraph (2), of section 503(b) of this title shall apply 
to forfeitures under this subsection.
    (4) The Commission shall provide for notice to the public and 
appropriate franchising authorities of any penalty imposed under this 
section.

(g) Discrimination complaints; investigation; enforcement

    Employees or applicants for employment who believe they have been 
discriminated against in violation of the requirements of this section, 
or rules under this section, or any other interested person, may file a 
complaint with the Commission. A complaint by any such person shall be 
in writing, and shall be signed and sworn to by that person. The 
regulations under subsection (d)(1) of this section shall specify a 
program, under authorities otherwise available to the Commission, for 
the investigation of complaints and violations, and for the enforcement 
of this section.

(h) ``Cable operator'' defined; owners of multiple unit dwellings

    (1) For purposes of this section, the term ``cable operator'' 
includes any operator of any satellite master antenna television system, 
including a system described in section 522(7)(A) of this title and any 
multichannel video programming distributor.
    (2) Such term does not include any operator of a system which, in 
the aggregate, serves fewer than 50 subscribers.
    (3) In any case in which a cable operator is the owner of a multiple 
unit dwelling, the requirements of this section shall only apply to such 
cable operator with respect to its employees who are primarily engaged 
in cable telecommunications.

(i) Regulatory powers of States and franchising authorities; 
        nonexclusive nature of remedies and enforcement provisions; 
        covered franchises

    (1) Nothing in this section shall affect the authority of any State 
or any franchising authority--
        (A) to establish or enforce any requirement which is consistent 
    with the requirements of this section, including any requirement 
    which affords equal employment opportunity protection for employees;
        (B) to establish or enforce any provision requiring or 
    encouraging any cable operator to conduct business with enterprises 
    which are owned or controlled by members of minority groups (as 
    defined in section 309(i)(3)(C)(ii) of this title) or which have 
    their principal operations located within the community served by 
    the cable operator; or
        (C) to enforce any requirement of a franchise in effect on the 
    effective date of this subchapter.

    (2) The remedies and enforcement provisions of this section are in 
addition to, and not in lieu of, those available under this or any other 
law.
    (3) The provisions of this section shall apply to any cable 
operator, whether operating pursuant to a franchise granted before, on, 
or after October 30, 1984.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title VI, Sec. 634, as added Pub. L. 98-549, 
Sec. 2, Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2797; amended Pub. L. 102-385, 
Sec. 22(b)-(e), Oct. 5, 1992, 106 Stat. 1498, 1499; Pub. L. 103-414, 
title III, Sec. 303(a)(24), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4295.)

                       References in Text

    The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 
1992, referred to in subsec. (d)(1), is Pub. L. 102-385, Oct. 5, 1992, 
106 Stat. 1460. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see 
Short Title of 1992 Amendments note set out under section 609 of this 
title and Tables.
    For ``the effective date of this subchapter'', referred to in 
subsec. (i)(1)(C), as 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where 
otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98-549, set 
out as an Effective Date note under section 521 of this title.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (h)(1). Pub. L. 103-414 substituted ``section 
522(7)(A)'' for ``section 522(6)(A)''.
    1992--Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 22(b), amended par. (1) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: ``Not later 
than 270 days after the effective date of this section, and after notice 
and opportunity for hearing, the Commission shall prescribe rules to 
carry out this section.''
    Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 22(c), amended par. (3) 
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (3) read as follows: ``Such rules 
also shall require an entity specified in subsection (a) of this section 
with more than 5 full-time employees to file with the Commission an 
annual statistical report identifying by race and sex the number of 
employees in each of the following full-time and part-time job 
categories:
        ``(A) officials and managers;
        ``(B) professionals;
        ``(C) technicians;
        ``(D) sales persons;
        ``(E) office and clerical personnel;
        ``(F) skilled craft persons;
        ``(G) semiskilled operatives;
        ``(H) unskilled laborers; and
        ``(I) service workers.
The report shall include the number of minorities and women in the 
relevant labor market for each of the above categories. The statistical 
report shall be available to the public at the central office and at 
every location where more than 5 full-time employees are regularly 
assigned to work.''
    Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 22(d), substituted ``$500'' 
for ``$200''.
    Subsec. (h)(1). Pub. L. 102-385, Sec. 22(e), inserted before period 
at end ``and any multichannel video programming distributor''.


                    Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 102-385 effective 60 days after Oct. 5, 1992, 
see section 28 of Pub. L. 102-385, set out as a note under section 325 
of this title.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective 60 days after Oct. 30, 1984, except where 
otherwise expressly provided, see section 9(a) of Pub. L. 98-549, set 
out as a note under section 521 of this title.


Congressional Findings: Employment of Women and Minorities in Management 
                    Positions in Television Industry

    Section 22(a) of Pub. L. 102-385 provided that: ``The Congress finds 
and declares that--
        ``(1) despite the existence of regulations governing equal 
    employment opportunity, females and minorities are not employed in 
    significant numbers in positions of management authority in the 
    cable and broadcast television industries;
        ``(2) increased numbers of females and minorities in positions 
    of management authority in the cable and broadcast television 
    industries advances the Nation's policy favoring diversity in the 
    expression of views in the electronic media; and
        ``(3) rigorous enforcement of equal employment opportunity rules 
    and regulations is required in order to effectively deter racial and 
    gender discrimination.''


Study and Report on Effect and Operation of Amendments by Section 22 of 
                             Pub. L. 102-385

    Section 22(g) of Pub. L. 102-385 provided that: ``Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 5, 1992], the 
Commission shall submit to the Congress a report pursuant to a 
proceeding to review and obtain public comment on the effect and 
operation of the amendments made by this section [enacting section 334 
of this title and amending this section]. In conducting such review, the 
Commission shall consider the effectiveness of its procedures, 
regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines in promoting equality 
of employment opportunity and promotion opportunity, and particularly 
the effectiveness of its procedures, regulations, policies, standards, 
and guidelines in promoting the congressional policy favoring increased 
employment opportunity for women and minorities in positions of 
management authority. The Commission shall forward to the Congress such 
legislative recommendations to improve equal employment opportunity in 
the broadcasting and cable industries as it deems necessary.''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 573 of this title.
