But opponents stood down after several amendments softened the bill’s effects, including a provision ensuring employers’ ability to protect trade secrets. “They can hold perpetrators accountable and hopefully prevent abusers from continuing to torment other workers.”Ī coalition of 13 trade associations led by the Chamber of Commerce initially argued the bill would hurt workers by discouraging employers from offering severance payments. “SB 331 will empower survivors to speak out - if they so wish,” said the author, Sen. The new law was spurred in part by Ifeoma Ozoma, a Black executive at Pinterest, who complained about race and sex discrimination at the company and was forced to sign an agreement to remain silent as a condition of settling her claims. Now Senate Bill 331, labeled the Silenced No More Act, expands protections, outlawing confidentiality agreements for settlements involving any form of discrimination or harassment, including those based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, medical conditions and disability. Backers cited abuses by powerful executives, including producer Harvey Weinstein and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes, cases in which secret agreements may have enabled harassment to continue. In 2018, as the #MeToo movement gathered strength, the Golden State outlawed nondisclosure agreements to settle most cases of sexual discrimination, harassment or assault. ![]() When employers settle workers’ claims of discrimination or harassment, they traditionally have sought to protect their reputations by forcing victims to sign confidentiality agreements before collecting severance or settlement payments.
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