The staid Texas family that runs radio giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. has tried in recent months to send a clear signal that it won't put up with raunchy antics.
Last year, the company ordered its rock programmers to pull pictures of skimpily dressed women from station Web sites that target young male listeners. Before that, the Mays family forced aside the chief of Clear Channel's radio division, a onetime shock jock known for sexually explicit broadcasts and stunts.
But a lawsuit filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that the company hasn't reined in some male executives' off-air behavior.
The complaint accuses Clear Channel Communications' radio syndication unit of violating anti-discrimination and whistle blower-protection laws by terminating a senior executive who objected to alleged "hostile treatment" toward women, including the spread of a sexually explicit e-mail.
The lawsuit contends that Karen Childress, former senior vice president of Premiere Radio Networks, repeatedly complained about sexual harassment at the company, including misconduct by top programmers. She alleges that she was fired last year shortly after objecting to an offensive e-mail.
Clear Channel, the nation's biggest radio conglomerate with control of about 1,200 stations, said: "We have not had an opportunity to review the lawsuit. However, we take all claims of this nature very seriously."
The case represents at least the third time in 22 months that former employees have filed court papers alleging sexual harassment at Clear Channel's radio operations.
In one case last year, the company paid a settlement to Brian Rublein, a veteran radio news director who said he was fired from a Clear Channel station in Louisville, Ky., partly in retaliation for reporting alleged harassment of a male employee by a senior male manager.
In another case, the company paid to settle a complaint filed by former Salt Lake City morning show personality Dawn College, who said she was frequently subjected to pornographic e-mails sent by senior executives. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.
Clear Channel spokeswoman Lisa Dollinger declined to discuss details of the cases, citing employee confidentiality. But she did say "neither of these situations proved to have any legitimate sexual harassment elements."
