Hoffman Declines Tegna Board Nomination
Former FCC official Adonis Hoffman declined a nomination for Tegna’s board over professional conflicts of interest, as well as a 2014 incident at a hotel where Tegna CEO Dave Lougee mistook Hoffman, who is Black, for a valet, according to…
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SEC filings and a statement submitted to Standard General. “The conflicts were primary” in refusing the nomination, and “the incident was a matter of principle,” Hoffman told us via email. “I have serious concerns whether Lougee and I could function as colleagues at TEGNA or afford each other the level of professional comity and respect required of a well-functioning board.” Lougee explained in a letter to Tegna employees, filed with the SEC: “As I was leaving the event and looking for my car, I ran into Mr. Hoffman and mistakenly thought he was a hotel valet. Mr. Hoffman was understandably offended and upset. I immediately apologized to him and felt terrible. I don’t condone racism of any kind, I take full responsibility for this mistake, and am truly sorry for the pain I caused Mr. Hoffman.” Hoffman said the conflicts stem from his having served as a strategic adviser to media and broadcasting companies, some of which are direct competitors to Tegna. “Based on TEGNA’s previous response to other well-qualified directors, I am under no illusion that Lougee would do whatever necessary to derail my election to the board,” Hoffman's statement said. Tegna’s board faced internal conflicts last year (see 2003310054). “Whether that would be based on the adversarial nature of the proxy process or Lougee’s demonstrated cultural insensitivity does not really matter,” he said. Tegna’s board hired an outside law firm to interview Lougee about the incident and did a human resources review of his file, it said in a letter sent to us by a spokesperson. “No information has come to our attention in connection with this review or otherwise suggesting Dave has ever been accused of any incident of a similar nature,” Tegna said. “Nevertheless, we care about even one such incident and view this as a reminder of the importance of continuing down the path of our strong commitment at TEGNA to issues of diversity.”