Wall Street’s Silencing of Sexual Harassment Curbed by US ‘Speak Out Act’
- Biden expected to sign bill passed by the House and Senate
- ‘It is so inane that NDAs can be this vast,’ Carlson says
A Wall Street sign hangs from a lamp post in New York.
Photographer: Jin Lee/Bloomberg
A major hurdle for employees who want to speak out about workplace sexual harassment is poised to be removed -- with significant ramifications across Wall Street, which has lagged behind the rest of corporate America in scaling back nondisclosure agreements.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign the so-called Speak Out Act after the bill was passed by the House on a 315-109 vote Wednesday and approved by the Senate in September. The new law will prohibit employers from enforcing nondisclosure agreements and non-disparagement clauses -- often signed on the first day of employment, and sometimes unknowingly -- that stop workers from discussing any incidents of sexual harassment or assault occurring months or years later.