A Springer Opera House director issued a racially-discriminatory job listing to fill a role for a holiday performance.
In a public Facebook post made on August 4, 2022, Springer director and choreographer Shane Hall posted a job listing for an acting role at the Springer Opera House. The listing stated the role was specifically seeking an “African American or Hispanic male.” The job listing was for the role of Bob Wallace in the upcoming production of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”
The discriminatory job listing was uninterested in applicants from asian, middle-eastern, white, or other ethnic backgrounds. According to the posted solicitation, only black or hispanic applicants will be considered for the employment opportunity.
The job listing also specified that applicants must be “non-union,” meaning they are not members of the Actors’ Equity Association; a labor union aimed at ensuring actors are treated fairly in the workplace. The “non-union” stipulation conveniently prevents the union from being able to enforce its fair labor requirements against the discriminatory casting call.
According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers are prohibited from making hiring decisions that discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.
The only exception to this rule is if national origin, religion, or sex — but not race nor color — present what is called a “bona fide occupational qualification” (BFOQ), which means the job could otherwise not be reasonably performed by someone who does not have specific characteristics. An example of this exception would be a foreign language school requiring that their instructors be native-born speakers. The Springer’s acting role does not meet this criteria.
Even if a job at the Springer could somehow only be reasonably performed by someone of a particular race, the law forbids it completely. As stated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the BFOQ exception only applies to national origin, religion, and sex — and only in very rare and specific circumstances. It explicitly forbids discrimination based on race entirely.
According to the EEOC:
“The protected class of race is not included in the statutory exception and clearly cannot, under any circumstances, be considered a BFOQ for any job.”
The Springer’s race-based hiring call comes after the opera house cancelled a comedy performance by the Hodgetwins, a conservative comedy team, in July. A leaked email from a Springer employee revealed the same-day cancellation was due to the comedians’ content, which contradicted the Springer’s public statements saying it was due to nonpayment. After the email leak, the opera house’s producing artistic director, Paul Pierce, admitted in a video interview that the cancellation was in fact due to the performer’s content. Pierce went on to delete his personal Facebook page after providing the interview.
The Springer Opera House’s thematically-discriminatory practices raise questions about its taxpayer-dollar funding. The Springer receives grant funding from the Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA). The funds include appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Springer’s receipt of these funds indicates that tax dollars are funding its apparently-discriminatory practices.
