Ministers plan swift action on Green scandal gagging orders
MINISTERS have pledged to speed up plans to reform the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the wake of the Sir Philip Green scandal.
Government sources have indicated reform of the system will be announced in the “coming weeks” following revelations by The Telegraph over their use to mask allegations of sexual harassment and racist abuse made against Sir Philip. The proposals are believed to include banning the use of NDAs to suppress complaints of a criminal nature.
It is understood that Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, privately raised concerns last week about the use of NDAs to cover up allegations of the type made against the chairman of the Arcadia retail group.
There is growing pressure on ministers to act following the naming of Sir Philip in Parliament as the business- man who had taken out an injunction against The Telegraph to stop it reporting allegations of sexual harassment and racist abuse and attempted to gag former staff with NDAs.
This newspaper is unable to report details of its eight-month investigation because the injunction is still in place.
Maria Miller MP, chairman of the women and equalities select committee, last night urged the Government to undertake an urgent root and branch reform of the use of NDAs in the workplace. She said: “There is a real problem with non-disclosure agreements and the way they are masking abusive and unacceptable behaviour at work.
“My committee’s report on sexual harassment at work was quite clear that NDAs need a complete overhaul. We have made several recommendations to Government over this but
unfortunately we have not yet received any response. We will certainly be looking to continue our work in this area to make sure the workplace is a safer place for people to operate in and that we don’t allow businesses and millionaires to buy the silence of their victims through NDAs.”
Ms Miller added: “The secrecy of NDAs is so intense and the recent revelations have been helpful in understanding how many problems have been caused by their use. The fact is Arcadia has thousands of employees who would want to know about these sorts of activities in their workplace.”
A Whitehall source said: “BEIS and the Government Equalities Office have been working on proposals which will be accelerated in light of the concerns raised this week. It’s partly about ensuring people have the information they need to ensure that are not forced into signing something they shouldn’t.
“We have many good employment rights in this country but people aren’t always aware of them.”
On Friday evening, media reports claimed that he had paid staff members seven-figure sums to hush allegations of sexual harassment and bullying, which, if true, would make the payments some of the biggest recorded for alleged sexual harassment.
The reports claimed that Sir Philip gave employees “lingering hugs”, asked them if they were “naughty girls”, whether they needed their “bottoms slapped” and made comments about their weight. They also reported at least seven cases in which former staff members had received substantial payouts to settle complaints.
“Senior executives at the company were reportedly aware of Green’s behaviour but had no appetite to challenge him,” said one newspaper.
Sir Philip was tracked down to his £2.3million home in the grounds of the exclusive Canyon Ranch spa in Arizona at the weekend where he was filmed pushing away a television camera man and attempting to evade reporters.
At one stage the tycoon, who has his own nine-bedroom home with swimming pool in Canyon Ranch, drove off in a golf buggy to avoid questions. He told one reporter who tried to question him: “I believe you’re being intrusive.”