Univision fined for putting employee on the air It doesn't matter who you work for - - if you are put on the air without your prior consent, you can complain to the FCC and if the target of the complaint is guilty, the FCC can levy a fine. Univision is thus liable for 28K on the phone rap, amounting to 4K each for two FMs in California, two in Arizona and three in Texas. An AE working for Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. (HBC) was the butt of on on-air prank perpetrated by Raul Brindis. He "...pretended to be a man who had met the complainant at a local club..." and proceeded with a flirtatious conversation. Univision tried two tacks in trying to duck the fine. One, it can put any employee it wants on the air, and two, it didn't own the stations at the time - - this was before HBC merged into Univision. The FCC said it was unpersuaded by the first argument. "Thus, under Univision's reasoning, by agreeing to work at HBC the complainant - - as well as each and every employee at the company form the CEO down to the cleaning crew - - implicitly consented to having conversations aired without prior notice." The Commission also cited its precedent of transferring liability for prior offenses along with the licenses when a station is sold.
