MPS hear how universities use NDAS to silence assault victims

UNIVERSITIES are using gagging clauses and six-figure payouts to cover up serial sexual misconduct by academics, an astrophysicist who accused her boss of harassment has told MPS.

Dr Emma Chapman said that nondisclosure agreements (NDAS) are “routinely” used to cover up allegations of improper sexual behaviour and are even insisted on when students or academics ask for an extension on their research for help with costs for medical treatment as a result of the trauma.

She argues that confidentiality clauses are “legally unnecessary and damaging to both complainants and wider reform of inadequate internal disciplinary processes”.

Her comments were echoed by legal experts who say that in some instances the accused is told they “can leave quietly”, with allegations suppressed with an NDA, allowing repeat offenders to move to another job without the risks being known.

They were giving evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee, which is holding an inquiry into the use of NDAS in the wake of The Daily Telegraph’s revelations about Sir Philip Green’s use of gagging clauses to silence accusations of harassment.

Dr Chapman complained to her bosses at University College London that she was being harassed by a male academic in 2015 and received a payout of £70,000 after a two year legal battle.

Dr Chapman, who is now at Imperial College London, claims she knows of at least seven other people who raised complaints against the same academic.