Baker, DeLeo not budging on NDAs
Proponents of ban say they mainly help the perpetrators
Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert DeLeo said they will continue using secretive nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases despite a call to ban the deals that critics say perpetuate misconduct.
“I think making it possible for people to pursue an NDA if they believe that’s in their best interest, who are victims or people who are bringing their complaints forward, that’s a way of making it possible for them to engage the discussion,” Baker said Monday. “Not everybody wants to be public.”
Gretchen Carlson and
Julie Roginsky, two women who sued former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, were joined at the State House Monday by attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents victims of clergy sex abuse, and Congresswoman Lori Trahan in urging state lawmakers to ban NDAs.
Those pacts waive a victim’s right to speak out or file lawsuits. Proponents of the bill argue that NDAs protect perpetrators.
“They’re falling back on that to try and get public approval of their stance on this,” Carlson said of Baker and DeLeo’s argument.
State Sen. Diana DiZoglio’s bill would ban nondisclosure agreements entirely in the public sector and in the private sector for issues of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct but victims would be able to obtain one privately should they so choose. The Judiciary Committee must bring up the bill for a vote before a Feb. 5 deadline, otherwise it dies.
“It’s going to take the people of the commonwealth calling on their legislators, calling Governor Baker, calling on the speaker and demanding change,” DiZoglio, D-Methuen, said. “Those two men in particular are the most powerful men in Massachusetts, politically speaking, and they’re the ones that hold the keys to whether or not this legisla tion passes.”
Although the Massachusetts Senate unanimously banned the use of these agreements a year ago, Baker and DeLeo continue to allow them. Baker dismissed a Herald request for the number and cost of NDAs issued out of the executive office and DeLeo denied an interview request on the subject.