POLS SHORT ON TIME TO MOVE ON NDA BAN BILL
‘This issue has been swept under the rug for too long’
Time is almost up for lawmakers to move on a bill that would ban legally binding agreements for silence, which critics argue perpetuate sexual misconduct with taxpayer dollars.
“This issue has been swept under the rug for too long by the governor, the speaker and others who hope that people will just forget about the fact that they’re using our communities’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars to pay for their hush agreements,” state Sen. Diana DiZoglio told the Herald. “Especially egregious is the fact that our tax dollars continue to be used to pay for these agreements.”
The bill regarding nondisclosure agreements, which waive a victim’s right to speak out or file lawsuits, currently sits in the Judiciary Committee and will come up for a potential vote before a Feb. 5 deadline. If no action is taken, it will die in committee. House committee Chairwoman Claire Cronin declined to comment.
In a steadfast push to prevent victims of sexual harassment from being
forced into legal silence agreements, DiZoglio filed a bill that would ban nondisclosure agreements entirely in the public sector and in the private sector for issues of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct. While DiZoglio argues that perpetrators are most often the beneficiaries of such agreements, she adjusted language in the bill to allow for victims to obtain one should they so choose.
“It would em power the victim and protect future potential victims by ensuring that the abusive behaviors of the perpetrator do not continue to be covered up,” she said.
DiZoglio, D-Methuen, and state Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington, both self-identified victims of sexual misconduct, testified before the
Judiciary Committee on the bill in a show of bipartisan support for the measure.
“I hope my colleagues — I urge my colleagues to vote favorably and allow us to debate this issue on both the Senate and House floor because it’s an important issue,” Sullivan said. “Being a survivor of domestic violence myself, I’m always thinking in the victim mentality, making sure we’re protecting victims. An NDA may, on the surface, look like it’s protecting victims but in reality, it’s protecting perpetrators.”
Although the Massachusetts Senate unanimously banned the use of these agreements a year ago, Gov. Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert DeLeo continue to allow them. Baker tersely dismissed a Herald request for the number and cost of nondisclosure agreements issued out of the executive office. Baker’s office declined to comment, deferring to a statement he made in July on the issue, and DeLeo’s office did not respond to requests for comment.
DiZoglio is holding a press conference Monday, alongside author Gretchen Carlson and political strategist Julie Roginsky, both of whom sued former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes for sexual harassment and founded the advocacy group Lift Our Voices, in the hopes that other members of the Legislature will “do the right thing,” and vote the bill out of the Judiciary Committee with a favorable report.
“We’re going to send a loud and clear message Monday that we’re not going anywhere and that this legislation needs to be passed,” DiZoglio said.