Call for ‘Green Law’ to stop bosses from gagging staff
AN influential group of MPs is calling for new laws to stop businessmen like Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green from silencing workers who complain about harassment and discrimination.
They have demanded a ‘Green’s Law’ to stop company chiefs from using gagging clauses to prevent employees from speaking out.
The call for an end to the misuse of nondisclosure agreements – deals in which workers who complain are paid off in return for agreeing to stay quiet – was made by the Commons’ women and equalities select committee yesterday.
In a highly critical report, they accused business leaders and firms of exploiting and abusing staff who complain.
They declared ‘the Government should legislate to ensure that NDAs cannot be used to prevent legitimate discussion of allegations of unlawful discrimination or harassment’.
Committee chairman, former Tory minister Maria Miller, said: ‘The current use of NDAs in settling such allegations is, at best, murky and, at worst, a convenient vehicle for covering up unlawful activity with legallysanctioned secrecy.’
Their use by business leaders accused of misconduct became a scandal last October after Sir Philip launched court action to silence five staff who wanted to publicise allegations against him of sexual harassment.
Three Appeal judges ruled that any publication of his name and the nature of the complaints should be suppressed as to do so would break NDAs which the staff had signed. They had told their stories to the Daily Telegraph. But shortly afterwards, former Labour CabMisconduct claims: Sir Philip inet minister Lord Hain named him in the Lords under protection of Parliamentary privilege.
In February, a judge disclosed Sir Philip had spent more than £1million paying lawyers in the case and faced costs of £3million. And over recent months, he has been facing fresh problems. Last week, he hired a top US lawyer to fight claims he spanked pilates instructor Katie Surridge up to ten times at the Canyon Ranch retreat in Tucson, Arizona, in 2016.
His Arcadia empire, which employs 18,000 staff and owns shops including Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, is in deep financial trouble and he needs a deal with landlords to ease pressure on the group.
Citing his case, the MPs’ report said: ‘While we were encouraged to hear about good practice and positive change by some employers, we were disappointed to hear stories... about both public and private employers... that appeared to be failing to deal with discrimination and, in some cases, had repeatedly used NDAs to settle discrimination claims.’ The MPs condemned ‘the routine cover-up of allegations’ and ‘the fact that some employers fail to investigate allegations of unlawful discrimination properly or at all.’
A new law, it said, should prevent NDAs from being used to cover up allegations, should use plain English that cannot be misunderstood in confidentiality clauses and ensure employers act against abuse of staff.
MPs called for ‘punitive damages’ for workers who win discrimination claims at employment tribunals. This would be likely to take the highest discrimination awards from a top level of £44,000 into six figures.