Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky and Diana Falzone, formerly of Fox News, are starting a new anti-NDA organization to prevent coverups of workplace sexual harassment and to keep companies from clamping down on criticism of working conditions. They favor a New Jersey law that limits NDAs to protecting confidential business information and practices rather than hiding a company’s dirty laundry. (Hollywood Reporter, December 19, 2019, by Rebecca Keegan)
The announcement of the formation of Lift Our Voices comes with the arrival of Bombshell, a film about women at Fox News revealing sexual harassment committed by CEO Roger Ailes. “For years, survivors of toxic workplace environments have either been forced into arbitration or to sign NDAs as a condition of employment, settlement or in order to receive a severance package,” said Carlson, Roginsky and Falzone. “This is akin to a professional scarlet letter with potentially long-lasting ramifications. It can be career-ending, and often causes deep emotional, financial, and professional trauma. Even as the #MeToo movement opens the floodgates and brings issues of workplace toxicity to the forefront, survivors must remain silent while others warp the facts. The current paradigm, which silences workers and takes away their right to share their own experiences, must end.” (Deadline, December 10, 2019, by Greg Evans)
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