Under Pressure, Bloomberg Says He'll Scrap 3 NDAs

Company won't require confidentiality agreements anymore, candidate says
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2020 5:20 PM CST
Bloomberg Offers to Drop NDAs With 3 Women
Michael Bloomberg and Elizabeth Warren talk during a break at a Democratic presidential candidates debate Wednesday in Las Vegas.   (AP Photo/John Locher)

Michael Bloomberg said Friday he'll release three women from nondisclosure agreements they signed with his company after accusing him of making inappropriate comments. "Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made," the presidential candidate wrote in a tweet. "If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release." Bloomberg was pressured heavily on the matter in a Democratic debate Wednesday—and since then—especially by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who wrote up a release for him to use Thursday. He said during the debate that he would not offer to tear up the confidentiality agreements, which Bloomberg said were signed "consensually," per NBC. "They signed those agreements," he said Wednesday, "and we'll live with it."

As he'd said before, Bloomberg answered in the debate that he was never accused of anything other than making a joke he shouldn't have, per Politico. His company has been sued several times by women who alleged discrimination against women, per the Washington Post, with one saying he fostered a culture of sexual harassment. The candidate said Friday that his company will no longer require confidentiality agreements when facing complaints. "I recognize that NDAs, particularly when they are used in the context of sexual harassment and sexual assault, promote a culture of silence in the workplace and contribute to a culture of women not feeling safe or supported," Bloomberg said. (Bloomberg's answer on the issue drew boos from the debate audience.)

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