For Immediate Release: September 15, 2021
Media Contact: JON CARVALHO

PRESS RELEASE:

Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky Call on Corporations and Organizations to Eliminate NDAs and Forced Arbitration and Protect Women in the Workplace

Lift Our Voices co-founders testify in support of Massachusetts bill to stop the abusive use of non-disclosure agreements

BOSTON – Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, co-founders of the nonprofit organization Lift Our Voices, called on corporations and all organizations to halt the use of non-disclosure agreements and forced arbitration to prevent employees from speaking out about toxic workplaces. The use of NDAs and forced arbitration support work environments that seek to cover-up harassment and wrongdoing in the workplace. Lift Our Voices, the organization they co-founded, has led the effort to eradicate the use of such agreements to prevent survivors from speaking out about their experiences.

As stories of workplace harassment and abuse continue to pervade the news nationwide, Lift Our Voices is calling for employers not to force survivors and employees into nondisclosure agreements and forced arbitration that cover up toxic environments. Those who are subjected to or witness abuse and harassment in the workplace must be free to speak out without being limited by agreements that legally bind them into silence about toxic workplaces.

Lift Our Voices has advocated on behalf of NDA and forced arbitration reform across the nation, including victories in New Jersey, California and New Mexico. On Tuesday, September 14, Carlson and Roginsky testified before a joint committee of the Massachusetts Legislature urging lawmakers to pass a bill that would reform nondisclosure agreements at government agencies in the state.

In their testimony, Carlson and Roginsky called for the Massachusetts Legislature to pass Senate Bill 2047, An Act prohibiting taxpayer-funded nondisclosure agreements. The legislation would prohibit NDAs as a condition of employment or in a settlement agreement between a government entity or school and employee or student in Massachusetts. Such agreements, which can be used to cover up workplace abuse, have been utilized in Massachusetts state and local government, including in harassment and discrimination in taxpayer-funded workplaces. Public records requests have revealed numerous NDAs have been given to state employees across several state agencies.

At the federal level, bipartisan legislation has been introduced with the support of Carlson and Lift Our Voices. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault & Sexual Harassment Act would prevent employers from forcing survivors of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace into the secretive, biased forced arbitration process, invalidating forced arbitration clauses that seek to silence survivors.

As advocates seek to protect women in the workplace, allowing survivors to speak without fear of retribution is critical to preventing assault and harassment from happening in the first place. Eliminating NDAs and forced arbitration for survivors will be a major victory against environments that foster cover-ups and secrecy around workplace abuse, which enable predators to get away with their actions. Lift Our Voices continues to fight at the state and federal level to stop the silencing of women in corporations and organizations, and eradicate these punitive clauses that muzzle employees.

“Here’s the startling reality: of the thousands of women we have spoken to over the past five years, most have never worked in their chosen field again after filing lawsuits for harassment or other workplace toxicity. A big part of the reason is because they have had to sign NDAs. Imagine applying for a new job, being asked about why you left your previous one and explaining to your prospective employer that you can’t really tell them,” said Gretchen Carlson in her testimony. “So, we launched Lift Our Voices for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are bound by silencing mechanisms that prevent them from telling and owning their personal truths. On behalf of these people, so many of whom live in Massachusetts and who are today prevented from speaking their truths, I respectfully ask you to support Senate bill 2047.” 

“This issue is nonpartisan because it affects everyone – including perhaps you or people close to you. This is issue is also apolitical and it should not be politicized. Being unable to speak your truth is psychologically brutal and professionally devasting, even as others are able to speak about you,” said Julie Roginsky in her testimony. “I have spent a great deal of my time in Massachusetts for the last thirty years. These are not the values this Commonwealth stands for.”

ABOUT LOV

Lift Our Voices was launched in December 2019 to create positive, systemic change in American workplaces through the eradication of nondisclosure agreements for toxic work issues and mandatory arbitration clauses. Created and launched by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, and Diana Falzone, LOV’s mission is to protect American workers by giving those in toxic work environments the freedom to speak freely about their workplace experiences and free them from the laws and business practices that prevent employees from publicly discussing toxic workplace conditions.