The Four Color Media Monitor

About a year or so ago, Archie's CEO, Silberkleit, was sued for harrassing her employees by using nasty genitalia slurs. The case is still going on, only now, she's revealed a much darker, horrendous side of herself:

The co-CEO of Archie Comics' says she couldn’t have discriminated against her underlings - because they’re white men.

In papers filed in Westchester Supreme Court, Nancy Silberkleit's lawyer says a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against her earlier this year by a group of Archie Comics employees should be tossed in part because white guys aren’t members of “a protected class.”

Is this serious? I don't know all that's gone on over the past few years at a publisher that's been hurting their image by shoving homosexuality, politics and even horror thriller material down everyone's throats, but if I'm reading this correctly, what she's really saying is that insulting white men is allowed (unless they're Muslims/Communists/gays?). Can anyone envision somebody like her actually saying that blacks/Latinos/Asians/women aren't a protected class?

There's more:

The dispute erupted again earlier this year, when the go-between Silberkleit selected, Samuel Levitin, filed papers in Westchester Surrogate’s Court charging that she’d become unhinged - and even wanted to tart up beloved characters Betty and Veronica. He said she needed to be removed altogether.

While her nutty claim about whites confirms she's an unhinged kook, I'm not sure why somebody who's gone along with introducing sugarcoated depictions of homosexuality and the Occupy movement has a problem with "tarting up" Betty and Veronica. He's just clutching at straws like her.

Again, I have no idea just what's going on behind the scenes there. But as Pajamas Media notes, Archie's a family-owned publisher, so Silberkleit can't just be thrown out. So what I don't get here is, if she really did harrass the menfolk with obscenities, why didn't any of them quit? If I were working for them, I wouldn't have wanted to stick around with such a basket case. Is there a power struggle behind the scenes?

After reading about all this, I've had to conclude that nobody running Archie Comics today is very likable, and coupled with the artistic steps they've taken over the past year, I think it will hurt them. Some employees might resign, not wanting to hang around with a bunch of moonbats, while others will be discouraged from getting a job with them. And the audiences will become even more diminished. What a shame. Even if the situation's not as bad as they're making things out to be, Silberkleit's failing epically to win over anyone. All she's done is reveal what kind of a leftist upbringing she must've had. If the company goes under, it won't be great at all, but it will be the fault of executives with no concern for good PR.

Update: a writer for Workforce explains how Silberkleit's defense is stillborn:

Title VII does not just protect minorities from discrimination. It protects all employees from discrimination. Thus, a male employee enjoys the same rights as a female employee to a workplace free from discrimination, just as a white employee has the same rights a black employee. An employer cannot treat men differently than women, or whites differently than blacks, and the disparately affected and marginalized class (whether or not a historical minority) has a claim.

Exactly. Silberkleit would be strongly advised to retract and apologize for being so revolting, not to mention she should pay damages to all the menfolk at the company for her blanket insult.

Labels: Archie, misogyny and racism, politics