Wealth and power should never be allowed to suppress the truth
SIR – Wealth and power should never be able to buy silence and suppress the truth (“The British #Metoo scandal which cannot be revealed”, report, October 24).
If a newspaper has irrefutable facts about a wrongdoing, it should be able to publish them without fear or favour. Mick Ferrie
Mawnan Smith, Cornwall
SIR – The news that a British Harvey Weinstein has deployed both nondisclosure agreements (NDAS) and a court injunction to prevent knowledge of his misdemeanours becoming public will not, sadly, come as a surprise to many women.
Having been on the receiving end of sexual harassment in the workplace, I was told by a solicitor that, “as an employer, you can act as unlawfully as you like, but you have to pay”.
NDAS can legitimise and excuse unlawful behaviour, and leave both the perpetrator and the employer with the impression that the slate has been wiped clean because the victim has been compensated financially. This is not the case, as a bland reference and an abrupt departure from a position are difficult to explain to future employers without telling the truth, which the victim is unable to do, because she (typically) has been left with no option but to sign an agreement. Sarah Pittam
Alresford, Hampshire
SIR – The fault is not with the judges but with the law. Non-disclosure clauses are an all-too-frequent feature of employment termination contracts and grievance procedure settlements.
The question is: should the law ever allow them to be used in circumstances that could lead to criminal investigations, as seems to be the case here? Can they, presumably governed by civil law, trump criminal law? Do they mean that the Telegraph may not report suspicions of possible criminal activities to the police, as any individual should?
Sexual assault, harassment or indecency has always been a crime, whether inside or outside the workplace. Robert Jones
Maldon, Essex
SIR – There has always been implied into English law in relation to contracts of employment a duty of good faith.
There has now been implied into “relational agreements”, for example joint ventures, a similar duty: Al Nehayan v Kent [2018] EWHC333; see also the judgment of Lady Hale in Braganza v BP Shipping Limited [2015] UKSC 17, which reached a similar conclusion.
While that decision will not help the Telegraph, it could be of use to the former employees concerned who signed non-disclosure agreements. Furthermore, agreements to oust the jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales are similarly unenforceable, and always have been. David Crawford
Llandudno, Caernarfonshire