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posted by martyb on Monday July 24 2017, @01:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the no-bad-news-must-be-good-news...-right? dept.

Last October, AngelList, a company that helps tech start-ups raise money and hire employees, held an office retreat. In the Hollywood Hills, far from Silicon Valley, the firm's mostly male staff mingled poolside with bikini-clad women who had been invited to the event.

Before the afternoon was over, Babak Nivi, a founder and board member at AngelList, said things that made Julie Ruvolo, a contractor, uncomfortable about working at the company. His comments included a suggestion that the women, who were not employees, warm up the pool by jumping in and rubbing their bodies together. The incident was described by two entrepreneurs who were told about it in the weeks after it occurred but were not authorized to speak about it.

Precisely what occurred at the Hollywood Hills event and the details of the agreement are not publicly known. Several weeks after the party, each side signed a nondisparagement clause as part of a settlement, the two people said. And neither Ms. Ruvolo nor AngelList are permitted to talk about what happened that day.

As more harassment allegations come to light, employment lawyers say nondisparagement agreements have helped enable a culture of secrecy. In particular, the tech start-up world has been roiled by accounts of workplace sexual harassment, and nondisparagement clauses have played a significant role in keeping those accusations secret. Harassers move on and harass again. Women have no way of knowing their history. Nor do future employers or business partners.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/21/abuses-hide-in-the-silence-of-non-disparagement-agreements.html

Related: Silicon Valley Women Frankly Describe Sexual Harassment


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Monday July 24 2017, @04:11PM

    by frojack (1554) on Monday July 24 2017, @04:11PM (#543745) Journal

    No, criminal law largely does not override contract law, unless the contract itself specifies an illegal act.

    It is not against the law for you and someone else agreeing to be silent about an already transpired event (one that neither party has any legal obligation to report) with or without the exchange of apologies, or remuneration, or some other inducement (a job perhaps). Nor does a single event come close to meeting the definition of harassment.

    As for TFS's assertion that

    "Women have no way of knowing their history. Nor do future employers or business partners."

    suggests that any drunken utterance should be recorded and made part of some permanent record, accessible for all time. Ammunition for the gossip mongers run wild ruining careers wherever they go.

    Harrassment is a repeated series of events. One off color remark hardly rises to that level. Poor taste, sure.

    Perhaps the fact that the "uncomfortable" Julie Ruvolo seeks remuneration for her brief discomfort should also be made public so that no one will invite her to an event where booze flows and something off color might get said. Especially since it would seem that Ms Ruvolo has a habit of putting herself in such places. [gettyimages.co.uk]

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