During Elizabeth Warren's fiery debate performance last week, she called on billionaire Michael Bloomberg to release former female employees who complained about his workplace behavior — which allegedly included sexist comments — from non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Not long after, lawyer and conservative commentator Mike Cernovich called on the Massachusetts Senator to support the unsealing of the many confidentiality agreements reportedly hidden in Congress.
"Hi @ewarren!" he tweeted, linked to a petition to unseal the agreements.
"Speaking of NDAs! You're in Congress, right? Here are 250 SEALED sexual harassment settlements. Will you demand these be unsealed?"
"Darn Mike, that was my exact thought and is going to be in my next vlawg. Now everyone's going to think I'm copying your wisdom!" he tweeted.
In the Change.org petition, Cernovich noted a 2017 Washington Post article that reported that Congress' Office of Compliance has spent more than $17 million on 264 settlements for violations of various employment rules, including sexual harassment.
According to BuzzFeed News, congressional employees who claim to have been sexually harassed have 180 days to file an incident report to the Office of Compliance. From here, a lengthy process takes place, one that allegedly requires a confidentiality agreement to be signed before proceeding.
