May 2023: Using Your Voice to Support Survivors
Dear Friend,
May has been an exciting month at Lift Our Voices! We continue to raise awareness and work to eliminate the silencing mechanisms that prevent workers from coming forward and speaking up, and we remain dedicated to our work to make the workplace safer for all, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Use your voice: Calling all New Yorkers!
Earlier this month, we were proud to join advocates and New York state lawmakers in Albany in support of the Stop Silencing Survivors Act. The Stop Silencing Survivors Act would ban employers from including a non-disclosure agreement or non-disparagement agreement in a waiver, settlement, or agreement. We want to send a big thank you to the Sexual Harassment Working Group and state lawmakers Sen. Andrew Gounardes, Sen. Liz Krueger, and Assemblymembers Jo Ann Simon, and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas for all their work on behalf of survivors. To learn more, read here.
If you live in New York, please contact your state Senator and Assemblymembers to urge them to support The Stop Silencing Survivors Act (A 2555/S 4233). You can find your legislators here: New York Senate or New York Assembly directories.
ICYMI: LOV has been very busy in May. In case you missed it, check out our co-founders at the following events this month.
Gretchen Carlson joined David Axelrod for a conversation on his podcast, The Axe Files, for a wide-ranging interview on her career, life, and mission at Lift Our Voices to protect survivors and give them back their voice. Listen here: The Axe Files with David Axelrod – Gretchen Carlson.
On May 19th, Gretchen Carlson joined 19th News at the 19th Represents Summit panel to discuss speaking out against injustice in the workplace and our work to eradicate the legal mechanisms that silence survivors. Watch the entire conversation here.
Julie Roginsky joined the New York Financial Writers’ Association to discuss our historic Speak Out Act and the impact of the #MeToo movement on the media and corporate America. You can learn more about the event here.
More legislation to prevent discrimination: Workers of color are disproportionately bound by forced arbitration provisions, which prevent them from openly airing claims of workplace toxicity. That is why we strongly support Senator Cory Booker’s bill, S. 1408 - Ending Forced Arbitration for Race Discrimination Act, which was introduced this month. This legislation goes a long way towards our mission of making workplaces safer for everyone. Read our op-ed on the bill in Senator Booker’s hometown newspaper The Star-Ledger and contact your own senators and Members of Congress to urge them to support S. 1408.
May is Older Americans Month: Too often, workers are silenced by NDAs and forced arbitration clauses that prevent them from coming forward about age discrimination, making it an overlooked and underreported issue in many workplaces.
In 2020, 78% of older workers reported having seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace - up from 61% in 2018.
Nearly 2-in-3 adults over 50 years old in the labor force think older workers face discrimination in the workplace based on age. And among them, nearly all believe that age discrimination against older workers is common in the workplace today. [AARP 2022 Survey]
Roughly one-third of older adults in the labor force report that in the last two years, they heard negative comments in the workplace about an older co-worker's age. [AARP 2022 Survey]
Learn more about our work to free workplaces from this kind of toxic behavior here.
Mental Health Awareness: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Harassment, discrimination, and retaliation in the workplace have a serious impact on the mental health of workers and their ability to perform their jobs. Silencing mechanisms, such as NDAs and forced arbitration clauses, often promote toxic environments that hurt the well-being of all workers. Lift Our Voices is currently raising the funding necessary to conduct groundbreaking research on the mental health impact of these silencing mechanisms.
Thank you for your continued support. To join our mission as we fight for safer workplaces across the United States, please click here:
Sincerely,
— Gretchen Carlson & Julie Roginsky | Co-founders, Lift Our Voices