Letter calls on campaigns to condemn deals
A new group founded by three former Fox News employees is sending a letter to all presidential campaigns Wednesday asking them to publicly condemn nondisclosure agreements that deal with workplace environment issues.
The group, called Lift Our Voices, was formed by Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky and Diana Falzone. All three women separately sued Fox News Channel a few years ago, and as part of their settlements were forced to sign nondisclosure agreements.
“These NDAs are a driving force in silencing workers and promulgating a culture where employers are able to cover up toxicity, including issues of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, rather than address it and end it,” the letter says. It continues: “It is time for our leaders to demonstrate that they are on the side of the women and men who have been silenced for too long from discussing the hostility they have encountered by speaking out loudly and publicly against NDAs.”
While the letter is asking for a public condemnation on the policy from the next or current president, it is in effect pressuring current campaigns that may be employing the practice to end it as well. It is unclear how many current presidential campaigns forced employees to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of their employment, but the tactic has been used in the past, including for some members of both the Clinton and Trump 2016 campaigns.
The group is not necessarily calling for an end to all nondisclosure agreements, understanding the need on a political campaign to protect trade secrets like selfresearch and internal polling.
Instead, it is focused on nondisclosure agreements solely dealing with workplace environment issues, like sexual harassment.
“This is incredibly important for a presidential candidate to get on board with,” Carlson said, adding that her goal with the letter was to force discussion of the issue in the election, particularly in presidential debates. “Whether it’s the president of the United States, or a person running a company, the buck stops with that person. And they can shift the discussion.”
The letter comes as nondisclosure agreements and discussions of sexual harassment in the workplace have become points of contention in the Democratic primary campaign.
On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was asked whether she thought the women who had made the initial complaints should be released from NDAs. She responded, “Yes, I do.”
Lift Our Voices highlighted Warren’s response in their letter as support for their cause.
“We hope that she speaks up about this and responds to our letter in a more holistic way,” Roginsky said in an interview. “We hope that every other candidate, Democrat, Republican or independent, joins her. This is not a partisan issue, and this should not be a partisan issue. This is not a women’s issue, and it should not just be female candidates who talk about it.”