Stormy waters ahead for US culture of buying silence
■ Stormy Daniels is a perfect example. She was paid and yet she’s still speaking at great risk to potential liability to herself. It’s just not being buried Lauren Topelsohn, ◗ Lawyers say courts rarely enforce punitive damages and that it’s a legal grey
New York: Porn star Stormy Daniels’s alleged one- night stand with Donald Trump spotlights how nondisclosure agreements, for years a mainstay of corporate America, are increasingly navigating choppy waters in the wake of the # MeToo movement.
For decades, murky outofcourt settlements allowed powerful men from A- list celebrities to the board room to hush up affairs, workplace harassment or even alleged sexual abuse.
In exchange for often hefty sums of money, incidents were brushed under the carpet, the victim saved the indignity of being dragged through the courts and careers besmirched, and companies were shielded against frivolous claims and bad publicity.
Confidentiality agreements have also become a standard part of employment contracts, sometimes for non- controversial purposes, such as safeguarding company research or industrial secrets. But on the downside, they offer repeat harassers the chance to do it again — look no further than sex scandals that ultimately brought down Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, put comedian Bill Cosby in court and sacked Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. The sexual harassment watershed sweeping America means accusers are increasingly empowered to speak up, essentially rendering any secrecy deal they signed meaningless, often feeling the weight of public opinion on their side.
While emphasising she was in no way a victim, Daniels detailed her sexual dalliance with Trump on national television despite the president’s lawyer’s claim that she is liable for $ 20 million for violating a $ 130,000 NDA she signed days before 2016 election.
Lawyers say courts rarely enforce such punitive damages and that it’s a legal grey area anyway because contract law varies from state to state.
“Stormy Daniels is a perfect example. She was paid and yet she’s still speaking at great risk to potential liability to herself. It’s just not being buried,” says employment lawyer Lauren Topelsohn at the firm Mandelbaum Salsburg.
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Lawyer