Garrison Law partner Josh Goodbaum was recently quoted in a Connecticut Law Tribune article on Connecticut Senate Bill 1035, which proposes to limit the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in Connecticut employment relationships. The bill would prohibit employers from forcing employees to remain silent about any action that an employee reasonably believes constitutes discrimination or retaliation, including sexual harassment.
The article discusses how the potential ban could affect both employees and employers and, in particular, whether banning NDAs would inhibit settlement negotiations in employment cases. Josh said that, even if employers were less likely to settle because of this bill, many would argue “that empowering survivors is more important than settling cases.”
Josh added: “Unlawful discrimination—including most especially sexual harassment—is often deeply personal and traumatizing for survivors, and Connecticut should favor a law that empowers survivors to decide for themselves when and how to tell their stories. Would that law undermine employment lawyers’ ability to settle cases? My understanding is that the scholarship on this question is mixed, and my sense from my colleagues who represent employees in California and New Jersey—which have banned post-dispute non-disclosure agreements for years—is that the dynamics around settlement negotiations have not materially changed.”
Read the full piece here. (Subscription required.)