* From the Illinois Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access panel’s report…
State parties should not use themselves and should prohibit campaigns from using, non-disclosure agreements or mandatory arbitration clauses in any employment agreements. A key way to improve the workplace culture in politics and campaigns is to attack the culture of silence that keeps sexual harassment and other misconduct shrouded in secrecy, so state parties should not use non-disclosure agreements or mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements and should prohibit campaigns from using them as well
The recommendations came from a National Women’s Law Center report entitled “10 Ways Your Company Can Help Prevent Harassment in the Workplace.”
This could get interesting. I think I’m going to ask the statewide campaigns and parties whether they use NDAs and why.
…Adding… From a panel spokesperson…
The report isn’t calling for campaigns to not sign NDAs at all, but just when it comes to settling sexual harassment issues.
Well, that’s different. I’ll adjust my question accordingly.
*** UPDATE *** HB5959 introduced today by Rep. Grant Wehrli…
Provides that each candidate for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, or Attorney General shall, at the time he or she files a statement of candidacy for that position, file a Statement of Nondisclosure Agreements. Provides that the Statement of Nondisclosure Agreements shall disclose whether or not the candidate is a party to, a signatory to, or a beneficiary of any nondisclosure agreement at the time of the filing.
- jim - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 9:40 am:
interesting — can these special rules trump the right of litigants to settle cases in any manner they see fit, including non-disclosure clauses? would be interested to hear lawyers weigh in on that one. lots of time non-disclosure is the key to settling a legal dispute rather than having it drag on.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 9:41 am:
If you’re asked to sign an NDA on a campaign, run the other way.
- BlueDogDem - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 9:44 am:
I know this topic is important to those affected. But its disgusting that we need to spend any time at all on idiots. We,as a state, have so many problems that are going to take real compromise and diplomacy to figure out and we gotta waste energy on these topics.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 10:33 am:
== We,as a state, have so many problems that are going to take real compromise and diplomacy to figure out and we gotta waste energy on these topics. ==
Not a waste of time at all. These issues are foundational to our politics as well as our governing. If people who work in the system don’t feel supported or safe, then that’s a problem that ultimately affects everyone. We can fix this and focus on other policy issues as well. This transcends our individual politics and that’s good for creating dialogue among all of us even when we disagree on the politics.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 10:35 am:
== If you’re asked to sign an NDA on a campaign, run the other way==
Actually yes and no. If you’re asked to sign one on sexual harassment then yes, run away. However, when it comes to not disclosing proprietary info from the campaign then you absolutely positively should sign. I’d never hire someone on a campaign without getting them to sign an NDA so they can’t disclose certain info they may have access to like polling or media buys etc.
Also, this report calls for NDAs re sexual harassment; not NDAs in general, which is smart.
- Anonymous - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 11:47 am:
If you have to tell your staff not to disclose confidential internal info, you need to hire better staff.
Campaigns 101. Like Fight Club, the first rule of campaigns is you don’t talk about your campaign to anyone outside of it.
If you work with consultants and contractors, confidentiality should be written into the contract but I don’t think they should be used with staff except in extraordinary circumstances.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 12:05 pm:
== If you work with consultants and contractors, confidentiality should be written into the contract but I don’t think they should be used with staff except in extraordinary circumstances.==
I think that’s a very rose colored view of staff. Too many opportunities for folks to run their mouth when they shouldn’t, especially with people in politics. You never know what you might get when you hire someone. NDAs cover ground that has to be covered when it comes to proprietary info.
- 47th Ward - Wednesday, Sep 26, 18 @ 12:16 pm:
If you have to tell your staff not to disclose confidential internal info, you need to hire better staff.
Campaigns 101. Like Fight Club, the first rule of campaigns is you don’t talk about your campaign to anyone outside of it.
If you work with consultants and contractors, confidentiality should be written into the contract but I don’t think they should be used with staff except in extraordinary circumstances.