Senator Brown Has Questions For Pittman

• On the heels of iHeartMedia’s recent round of mass layoffs — many of those in his state of Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) fired off a sternly worded letter to Bob Pittman, CEO of iHeartMedia, Inc., raising concerns about the company paying out millions in bonuses to Pittman and other iHeart executives while laying off hundreds of employees. Portions of Brown’s letter are excerpted below; the full text of Brown’s letter is posted on his Senate website.

Brown’s letter to Pittman reads, in part, “I am particularly concerned about these layoffs in light of additional news reports that the company significantly increased executive compensation the year before entering bankruptcy and have since asked the bankruptcy judge to approve more executive bonus pay. It’s hard to understand why it is in the long-term interest of the company to significantly increase executive compensation while making significant job cuts.”

Brown added, “It’s difficult enough to understand the decision to continue the hollowing out of local media outlets by laying off disc jockeys in smaller communities. But it is particularly difficult to make sense of this decision given that it came after a significant increase in the company’s executive compensation over the last few years. According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, you received more than $9 million in bonuses on top of your annual pay of $1.25 million in 2017, the year before the company initiated bankruptcy proceedings. Other reports indicate that the bankruptcy judge approved the company’s restructuring plan in January 2019, which included another $9.3 million incentive bonus for your 2018 work with the company.”

Brown then submitted four questions to Pittman to answer — 1) How many workers were affected by iHeartMedia’s recent layoff announcement? Of those workers, how many are in Ohio? 2) Please provide details about the severance provided, including whether it includes severance pay and if so, how much and whether it includes healthcare benefits, and if so, for how long. 3) Is the company giving affected workers priority consideration in the hiring process for any currently open positions in the company? 4) Is the company offering or paying for any training affected workers might seek to help them find new employment? Please provide written responses to these questions by February 14th.” Now we wait…