Connecticut legislators are pushing to end the use of non-disclosure agreements in the workplace.
An NDA, or non-disclosure agreement, is used by businesses to keep confidential information from being spread.
But according to lawmakers and advocates, it also silences victims of workplace abuse.
“Far too many people in our state and across our country, who step forward and bravely tell their stories are met with this mechanism that silences them,” state Senator Mae Flexer said. “They are forced, they are coerced into using NDAs, in an effort to mitigate the circumstances of that discrimination in the workplace.”
Gretchen Carlson, former FOX news journalist, sued former FOX CEO Roger Ailes for harassment and retaliation. She co-founded Lift Our Voices, an organization that supports ending NDAs in the workplace.
She joined legislators at the Capitol on Tuesday to support the legislation.
“My story may be public, but I am still silenced by an NDA,” Carlson said. “It prohibits me from ever disclosing what really happened to me at FOX. I may never, ever get my own voice back, or own my own truth. But I'm here today to make sure others can.”
A similar bill failed in Connecticut last legislative session.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a law that tightens restrictions on businesses that require their employees to sign NDAs.
