Confidential settlements to resolve claims of sexual assault

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Reference no: EM133418907

Question: Nondisclosure agreements (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.

NDAs can force employees to be silent about anything from trade secrets to sexual harassment and assault and have been growing in number as companies become increasingly worried about competition and reputation. Companies can sue workers for breaking a NDA. Sometimes, just the possibility of legal retaliation is enough to keep workers from coming forward with their stories of abuse.

NDAs are sometimes included in legal settlements that stem from allegations of sexual assault. In 2017, an avalanche of media reports about sexual harassment exposed how some of the country's most powerful companies and men - including Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and Fox News CEO Roger Ailes - used these agreements and confidential settlements to resolve claims of sexual assault.

Several states have passed laws to ensure that NDAs can't be used to conceal sexual harassment. See, for example, Washington's Silenced No More Act, which makes it unlawful for employers in the state to require, or even request, that workers sign NDAs or nondisparagement provisions that restrict workers' right to talk openly about illegal discrimination, harassment, sexual assault, retaliation, wage and hour violations, or any other breaches of public policy.

For this discussion board post, imagine that you are a legislator in Pennsylvania who is asked the following question, "Should Pennsylvania enact a law that restricts the ability for employers to use NDAs? If so, why? If not, why not?" In a minimum of 10 sentence, please respond to the question and include at least three reasons or justifications for your position.

Reference no: EM133418907

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