Workplace NDAs and forced arbitration silence older employees
By Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky / Bloomberg News
President Joe Biden signs H.R. 4445, the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021” into law at an event in the East Room of the White House on March 03, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky of Lift Our Voices say that noncompete agreements and forced arbitration perpetuate age discrimination in workplaces.
We are all too familiar with stories of workplace toxicity and abuse, from sexual assault and harassment to racism, misogyny, and LGBTQ+ discrimination. These issues persist in the public consciousness. Many people are prevented from telling their stories because of silencing mechanisms that exist in the workplace, such as nondisclosure agreements and forced arbitration.
Much less talked about, but just as pernicious, is age discrimination. Older workers bring decades of experience and knowledge to their workplace, making their organizations more productive. They also train and teach colleagues, and mentor younger employees still learning the ropes.
But too often, because of their age, older employees face various forms of discrimination, such as being let go because their employer can hire younger workers at a lower salary. When looking for a job, they might meet or exceed the requisite qualifications, but aren’t hired for vague reasons that imply the issue might be their age—their “lack of energy,” for instance. Or perhaps they’re forced out because they have aged out, or an employer wants a younger-looking person to represent the company.
The examples are endless, and we are all familiar with them, having witnessed or experienced such incidents ourselves or heard about them from colleagues, family, and friends. But what’s just as bad as the discrimination is the stories we aren’t allowed to hear, which are myriad.
That’s because silencing mechanisms like nondisclosure agreements and forced arbitration exist in the workplace to cover up rampant workplace toxicity. Just last year, that finally began to change when we worked with the White House and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to pass two landmark labor laws that allow survivors of workplace sexual misconduct to bring their claims to light.
Gretchen Carlson is a journalist, author and advocate whose actions against workplace harassment at Fox News helped pave the way for the global #MeToo movement.
Julie Roginsky is a political and public relations consultant who sued Fox News for sexual harassment and retaliation. Since leaving Fox News, Carlson and Roginsky co-founded the nonprofit Lift Our Voices.
BY GRETCHEN CARLSON AND JULIE ROGINSKY, May 8th, 2023