Bloomberg Releases Complaining Staffers From NDAs

February 21, 2020 2020 Elections, Democrats

Mike Bloomberg said Friday his company would release from nondisclosure agreements three women who complained about inappropriate comments they said he made, two days after he was pressed to do so by Elizabeth Warren during the Democratic debate.

“Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they’ll be given a release,” Bloomberg tweeted Friday.

Warren sharply criticized Bloomberg for the use of nondisclosure agreements and his treatment of women that had been reported in the press during Wednesday’s debate in Las Vegas, repeatedly asking how many such agreements existed.

Via press release from the Bloomberg campaign:

I’ve had the company go back over its record and they’ve identified 3 NDAs that we signed over the past 30-plus years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made.

If any of them want to be released from their NDA so that they can talk about those allegations, they should contact the company and they’ll be given a release.

I’ve done a lot of reflecting on this issue over the past few days and I’ve decided that for as long as I’m running the company, we won’t offer confidentiality agreements to resolve claims of sexual harassment or misconduct going forward.

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.

It is imperative that when problems occur, workplaces not only address the specific incidents, but the culture and practices that led to those incidents. And then leaders must act.

Elizabeth Ann Warren made this happen. She did. No one else. Bloomberg needs to release *all* women from their NDA’s because something tells me it is more than three. And this is why she’s presidential to me. That’s it. Period. #Warren2020 https://t.co/HMzQ1PwwFL

— Preston Mitchum (@PrestonMitchum) February 21, 2020