Retail tycoon accused of ‘flouting law’ as minister vows to overhaul NDAS
A CABINET minister has vowed to “get changes” to non-disclosure agreements and said that their use by Sir Philip Green was “disgraceful”.
The Daily Telegraph has revealed how Sir Philip used payouts, some totalling more than £1million, to silence allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and racism.
Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, yesterday accused Sir Philip of “flouting the law”, and said that his use of the agreements was “morally wrong”.
Maria Miller, the chairman of the women and equalities select committee, told this paper that she wanted to call him in for questioning in Parliament about the allegations. Sir Philip has previously stated that his actions amounted to “banter” and that none of his behaviour was unlawful.
Ms Truss’s pledge on NDAS comes amid concern that the Government’s response to the controversy has been “lacklustre”.
Campaigners say that they have been raising the issues surrounding abuse of the agreements for more than a year and despite repeated promises of action, including from the Prime Minister herself, nothing has been done.
Although NDAS will not be banned, as many employers use them legitimately to protect intellectual property and trade secrets, Theresa May has promised to improve the way they are regulated to make it “absolutely explicit” when they cannot be used.
Non-disclosure agreements cannot be used to cover up criminal behaviour. Legal experts say that the allegations against Sir Philip, particularly of sexual harassment and racism, if proven to be true, could amount to criminal acts.
Ms Truss told Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the Sky News programme: “I do think it is disgraceful that he has been
‘Every industry needs to do more to stamp out bullying and harassment – and that includes looking at NDAS’
able to use non-disclosure agreements to effectively silence [alleged] victims of sexual and racial abuse.
“I think we need to look seriously at those non-disclosure agreements and get changes to them because I think it’s completely wrong that people like Philip Green have been able to flout the law.”
She subsequently told The Telegraph: “There are a whole load of areas where people hide behind legal privilege.
“It is morally wrong that, because you have got money and power, you don’t have to face up to things like sexual harassment and bullying.”
Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons, said she wanted to see MPS debate the use of non-disclosure agreements “as soon as possible”.
“The Green revelations go to show that every industry needs to do more to stamp out bullying and harassment – and that includes looking at the controversial use of NDAS,” she said.
“I hope to bring the matter forward for debating on the floor of the House as a matter of urgency.”
Mrs Miller said: “I will be recommending to the select committee that we call Philip Green to give evidence in our current inquiry into NDAS, along with other relevant members of his organisation.
“[This is] so that we can understand how Arcadia’s internal complaints system handles allegations of discrimination, specifically allegations that include criminal behaviour, how the board is informed of decisions regarding the use of NDAS and what ongoing process they have to monitor multiple allegations made against the same individual.
“This is also a question we shall ask of Arcadia’s legal advisers. The court’s decision on Friday poses more questions than answers and the select committee has the opportunity to help clarify these points as part of our ongoing inquiry.”