BOSTON (WHDH) - Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson joined legislators calling for the state to end taxpayer-funded non-disclosure agreements, but top officials, including Gov. Charlie Baker, say they support NDAs.
Carlson, whose sexual harassment suit ultimately led to the downfall of Fox News head Roger Ailes, said NDAs silence victims of sexual harassment. Because she was forced to sign an NDA, Carlson said, she was barred from telling her own story and called this the next fight in the MeToo movement.
‘No one should be penalized for having a voice,” Carlson said “Buying silence instead of stopping harassment is immoral and unjust.’
State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who is sponsoring a bill that would not allow taxpayer-funded NDAs unless the victim requests one, said she was the victim of sexual harassment as a House legislative aide but had to sign an NDA. She took aim at Baker and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo for continuing to use the agreements on behalf of taxpayers.”
“Those two men in particular are the most powerful men in Massachusetts and they’re the ones that hold the keys to whether or not this passes,” DiZoglio said. ‘Perpetrators should not be able to buy the silence of any victim to be able to continue in their bad behavior.”
Baker and DeLeo said they supported NDAs for victims who request them.
“I think giving victims the opportunity to have an NDA if they believe that’s the best way to provide protection to themselves, yes,” Baker said.
DiZoglio’s bill remains in committee unless it gets enough votes to be reported out in nine days.
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