Ex-Fox News hosts push for CT to ban non-disclosure agreements

Former Fox News hosts Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky joined Democratic lawmakers at the Capitol Tuesday to call for legislation banning employers’ use of non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements to resolve discrimination complaints in workplace contracts.

Carlson and Roginsky both signed NDAs after settling private cases with Fox News over sexual harassment they experienced while working for the network. They legally can’t speak about those experiences, but they’ve since launched the nonprofit Lift Our Voices, which advocates at the federal and state level for changes to laws that would allow more people to speak out about workplace harassment. 

“I may never ever get my own voice back or own my own truth, but I’m here today to make sure others can,” Carlson, who resides in Connecticut, said at a press conference Tuesday. “This bill puts the power back in the hands of the survivors. If we’ve learned anything since the beginning of this [#MeToo] movement seven and a half years ago, it’s the only way that we actually fix bad behavior at work. And that is: to talk about it.”

Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, and Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, who both sit on the General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, said the bill would be a priority for the legislature’s Democrats in the upcoming 2024 session. The General Assembly considered similar legislation in 2022 as part of Senate Bill 5, but the provision was stricken from the bill during negotiations in the final hours of the session.

“Ultimately that effort failed, and that was a real disappointment,” Flexer said. She added that “organizations that represent business interests,” including the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, had opposed the ban. 

CBIA President Chris DiPentima confirmed that the association, the state’s largest group representing businesses, will oppose banning NDAs in the coming session, but he didn’t comment further.

In an emailed statement, Ashley Zane, a lobbyist with CBIA, said NDAs are “a valuable tool for companies when employees have access to trade secrets, proprietary processes, client information, marketing strategies, and any other sensitive information.”

Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, also offered a statement via email, in which he expressed opposition to state lawmakers “interfering” with private contracts.

“The level of hubris of these lawmakers is shocking,” Sampson said. “They think they have the right to tell other free people how to live, and what they can and cannot do in matters where individuals are choosing their own consequences.”

Researchers estimate that at least one in three working Americans — and potentially more than half the labor force — have signed NDAs as part of their employment contracts. 

New Jersey, California and Washington have banned the use of NDAs with employees who experience discrimination or harassment on the basis of their race, gender, sexuality, age and other attributes. Lift Our Voices is also advocating for similar legislation in New York. 

Last December, President Joe Biden signed the federal Speak Out Act, which places some limits on the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. Carlson said that legislation was bipartisan but “much more narrow in scope than the state laws that we work on.”

“At the state level, we can be much more progressive in trying to include all protected classes,” Carlson said. 

Flexer said one “bright spot” of the failed 2022 legislation is the opportunity Connecticut lawmakers have now to be able to look to other states that have passed NDA bans for lessons in putting together next year’s bill. 

“Connecticut can have a really strong and robust piece of legislation that will meet the needs of brave people who stand up to workplace discrimination,” Flexer said. 

Roginsky pointed to Washington’s recent legislation as an example of “a perfect bill,” adding, “If Connecticut emulates what Washington state did, Connecticut would be at the forefront here in the Northeast, certainly the first in New England to do this, and will have the strongest bill in the Tri-State Area.”

Roginsky added: “All of us want to go to work every single day with dignity, in a workplace free of fear. We need to show Connecticut that together, all of you coming together, can make this happen and give survivors back their voice.”