California Bans Some Workplace Secret Settlements

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A caller instrumentality successful California bans concealed settlements successful astir harassment and favoritism cases, expanding a signature betterment of the #MeToo question that guarantees workers tin publically telephone retired their bosses for atrocious behaviour without fearfulness of losing wage oregon different benefits.

Companies don’t similar to person their reputations sullied successful public, truthful they often necessitate their employees to support quiescent erstwhile they settee harassment oregon favoritism cases by making them motion a nondisclosure agreement. Such agreements came nether scrutiny during the #MeToo question arsenic a mode to isolate victims and shield serial offenders from consequences.

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A 2018 instrumentality banned concealed settlements successful California for cases involving intersexual harassment, favoritism oregon assault. Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a caller instrumentality that bans these settlements for different types of favoritism cases, including those involving race, religion, sex and intersexual orientation.

Sen. Connie Leyva, a Democrat from Chino who authored the law, dubbed it the “Silenced No More Act.”

“The California State Legislature and Governor Newsom person present spoken: California workers should perfectly beryllium capable to talk retired — if they truthful privation — erstwhile they are a unfortunate of immoderate benignant of harassment oregon favoritism successful the workplace,” Leyva said successful a connection Thursday. “It is unconscionable that an leader would ever privation oregon question to soundlessness the voices of survivors that person been subjected to racist, sexist, homophobic oregon different attacks astatine work.”

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Other states, including Arizona, New Jersey, New Mexico and Tennessee, besides person laws that prohibition nondisclosure agreements successful intersexual harassment cases. But Leyva’s bureau has said California is the archetypal authorities to prohibition these nondisclosure agreements arsenic portion of severance packages erstwhile a idiosyncratic leaves the company.

The instrumentality is important successful California, location to immoderate of the world’s largest and astir influential exertion companies. The authorities was inspired successful portion by 2 Black women who accused Pinterest, the San Francisco-based societal media company, of wage favoritism and retaliation.

The women, Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, settled their complaints and near the company. But erstwhile they decided to speak publicly about their experiences, California instrumentality lone protected them if they spoke astir the sex favoritism information of their complaint, not the radical discrimination.

Pinterest’s co-founder and CEO has said helium supports the law.

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California’s instrumentality has immoderate exceptions. Companies would inactive beryllium required to support employees’ names concealed and not merchandise immoderate accusation that could place them, but lone if the worker asks companies to bash that. The instrumentality says companies can’t necessitate employees to support quiet.