A new bipartisan bill would enable workers to report workplace sexual assault and harassment even if they signed a confidentiality agreement, nearly five years after the viral #MeToo movement exposed how the common legal tools can muzzle survivors.
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
New Bipartisan "Speak Out" Bill in Congress Removes Legal Barriers to Reporting Sexual Harassment from Nondisclosure Agreements
The Speak Out Act Removes Legal Barriers to Reporting Sexual Assault
“This is a preventive piece,” Frankel said. “When companies that are going to have offenders are aware that they cannot hide illegal sexual harassment, that they cannot put it under the rug, they’re going to take more steps from the get-go to keep it from happening.”
NDAs are standard features of employment contracts that protect sensitive company information. They’re common across industries: Over one-third of the U.S. workforce is bound by an NDA, according to a 2018 Harvard Business Review report.
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/gender_law/2022/07/new-bipartisan-speak-out-bill-in-congress-removes-legal-barriers-to-reporting-sexual-harassment-from.html