...and Raab silenced his researcher, too
THE Government was last night dragged into the row over non- disclosure agreements after it emerged that a Cabinet Minister refused to release a Parliamentary researcher from one.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab sued for libel after a newspaper accused him of being a ‘workplace bully’ when he was chief of staff to David Davis between 2006 and 2008.
He was accused of sexist bullying towards a researcher who worked under his supervision and caused her to leave her job.
Lawyers for The Mail on Sunday requested that he release the employee from the non-disclosure agreement so she could give evidence.
But he declined to – and even refused to release a copy of the agreement to the defendant’s solicitors so they could decide whether her parents were also bound by it.
The High Court ruled that refusing to release the key witness from her NDA did not impede the Mail on Sunday’s defence. The case is said to be one of dozens of confidentiality clauses agreed in Westminster in recent years.
A total of £2.4 million has been spent on NDAs for former House of Commons staff since 2013, with 53 departing employees signing contracts requiring them not to reveal information, the BBC’s Newsnight reported earlier this year.
Details of Mr Raab’s case were highlighted after Theresa May told the Commons that the Government would examine regulation of nondisclosure agreements amid concerns some were using them ‘unethically’.
During his libel case in 2011, Mr Raab denied being a ‘workplace bully’ and denied bullying the employee before he became an MP.
The newspaper claimed the woman was paid £20,000 in ‘hush money’ to keep the accusations of bullying and sexual discrimination secret.
Mr Raab claimed the article alleged his behaviour was ‘so bad that it caused her ... to become traumatised, to feel worthless and to leave a job which she had otherwise enjoyed’.
He claimed the article inferred the woman was paid the ‘hush money to keep his appalling behaviour secret’.
The case notes raised concerns the researcher had supplied information either directly to the Mail on Sunday or via a ‘friend’.
Lawyers for the newspaper accused Mr Raab of ‘gagging’ the woman, but judges ruled there was no obligation on him to release her from the agreement. They ruled that an application by the newspaper to strike out the libel action be dismissed, meaning Mr Raab could sue it.
The Mail on Sunday later accepted the sexist bullying allegation against Mr Raab was unfounded and printed an apology. Mr Davis did not and has never commented on whether he was party to the non-disclosure agreement.
A spokesman for No 10 did not comment when asked about a non-disclosure agreement involving Mr Raab.