An Open Letter to TLC

The ruling of the PA Department of Labor and Industry (announced on April 14th) that the eight Gosselin children are actually working…and have been for the past five years…was not accompanied by an announcement of stiff fines and penalties to be imposed on TLC for their wanton disregard of existing PA child labor law.

Virtually everything TLC said (as a division of the world's largest content provider, Discovery Communications) proved to be deceptive. There were no work permits, no trust funds, and no limited hours. Pay levels were never set and the Industry's "custom & practice" in the employment of minors was observed in the breech.

"Go forth and sin no more" is insufficient when we know that a new show starring Kate Gosselin and her brood is already announced and underway.

I have some serious questions…and a continuing sense of disappointment that neither the Labor Department nor TLC has found a way to contact the Chair of the Young Performers Committee at AFTRA (The theatrical union that would ordinarily cover this sort of reality show).

Instead of coming to the experts, let alone addressing the very public concerns expressed regarding "Jon & Kate + 8", TLC has actually contracted with a paid Lobbyist to bird dog the pending legislation (HB 2515), due to be announced on June 3rd 2010. Don't believe me? Here's the Lobbyist TLC has hired:

Scott Bishop
S.R. Wojdak & Associates, LP
30 North Third Street
Suite 950
Harrisburg, PA 17101
717-233-1111

He hasn't called AFTRA either…and we're not hard to find.

Where is the independent Advocate for the Gosselin Eight? Who negotiated the terms of the contract with these children? What Court approved this contract? What person…with a license to lose…is going to oversee the day-to-day production of "Kate Plus 8?" Who will guard the "health, safety and morals" of the minors?

Industry insiders have reported that "Jon & Kate + 8" turned a profit of $200 million dollars to TLC as its Number One show, and the woman who discovered the Gosselins, Ms. Eileen O'Neill, is now the President of the TLC network, moving over from the Discovery Health Channel.

In an interview from last May, here is what Ms. O'Neill was quoted as saying. "We did not document family conversations," Ms. O'Neill said, adding: "As they've said all along, certain matters are private, and we've respected that."

Just how naive do you think we are, Ms. O'Neill? Your own words describe the true situation:
"You can't help but become invested in people that you've worked with for several years," she said in June of 2009.

"Invested, my eye," Ms. O'Neill. You pretended the kids were just participants.

You took advantage of children and their ambitious parents. You pretended that the family was intact when your own production team told you well in advance that a divorce was pending and that there was big trouble under the Gosselin roof. You perpetuated a deliberate public farce and involved innocent children whose lives you have materially affected.

And even today your network has cut a deal with the inexperienced staff of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, a deal whose terms have not been made public. You have not announced the corrective measures TLC will take with all the TLC productions that utilize Minors. You have not announced the changes to production designed to better protect the kids in the workplace.

Instead you've hired a Lobbyist, Scott Bishop, Esq., and contracted with Kate and her eight children to provide another commercial entertainment without disclosing the terms of that employment. TLC employs scores of children across its platforms. Where are the new rules and guidelines for the child labor that your network and Discovery Communications features in its slickly-produced and carefully crafted reality shows?

That is not transparency, President O'Neill. In my public remarks on April 14th, comments that are on the public record and available to anyone truly concerned with the Gosselin kids, I warned all within the sound of my voice of what is to come if the Gosselin children…and all the rest of the TLC juveniles employed by your network…are not treated fairly in accordance with long-established custom and practice within this Industry. I even quoted the Pennsylvania Court:

PA's Third Circuit Court in 1985 noted that "the common law rule that minors…may disaffirm their contracts has as its basis the public policy concern that minors should not be bound by mistakes resulting from their immaturity or the overbearance of unscrupulous adults."

Mady and Cara Gosselin will turn 18 years-old on October 8th 2018. It's time for TLC to openly come to the table on behalf of all the kids on their platform. Let's put an end to these deceptive employment practices and set a Gold Standard when it comes to Minors and so-called reality shows. As for the adults you employ? They can fend for themselves. They are not my concern.

But when you take advantage of a child in the entertainment business you're going to hear from us…now or later.

Sincerely,
Paul Petersen,
President, A Minor Consideration