Seanad debates

Tuesday, 1 June 2021

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

9:00 am

Photo of Lynn RuaneLynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 19 be taken before No. 1. I am introducing the Employment Equality (Amendment) (Non-Disclosure Agreements) Bill 2021 in the Seanad. If passed, the Bill will restrict the use of legal non-disclosure agreements, NDAs, in the workplace following incidents of sexual harassment or discrimination under the equality legislation. It would ensure that the only NDAs that would be legally enforceable after such incidents would be those that were requested by the victim to protect the victim's confidentiality. No other NDAs after workplace sexual harassment or discrimination would be permitted. There will always be a need for ensuring legal confidentiality, for example, to protect sensitive information in the commercial or legal sectors, but the main legal effect of a NDA following sexual harassment is to silence the victim of the perpetrator from speaking out and to release employers from their obligation to hold perpetrators properly accountable for the actions. With the growth of the #MeToo movement and Ireland's continued reckoning with a shameful history and culture of silencing the vulnerable, these agreements should not be an option to force victims of harassment and discrimination to remain silent. They should be banned. I ask all Members to give the Bill their support.

Members will have received an email notifying them that I will hold an event about the Bill next Thursday. We have also carried out some research, and there will be a motion before the House in the coming months on the use of NDAs especially in the university sector. This Bill applies to all NDAs. The research has provided us with a massive amount of insight into how widespread the use of NDAs is in Ireland. However, many people are afraid to speak up and will only speak anonymously because they are afraid of losing their livelihood and mortgages. Some women have been paid off with as little as €5,000 in severance and told they can never speak about the abuse, bullying or discrimination they endured in the workplace. Then it is framed as if it is in the best interests of the victim. Anybody who wishes to attend the briefing can register on Eventbrite.com. We will have four amazing women who have been challenging NDAs around the world: Zelda Perkins, who was the first to challenge the Harvey Weinstein NDA; Professor Julie Macfarlane, who was successfully sued for defamation for refusing to give false character references for a serial abuser in a university in Canada; Georgina Calvert-Lee, who is a senior counsel in the UK and has been challenging NDAs there; Ifeoma Ozoma, another amazingly brave woman who has been challenging the NDA culture in the United States and who challenged the NDA she signed with Pinterest. This is an opportunity to hear from global international experts on this subject and I would welcome all Members if they or somebody from their office could attend and hear about this important issue.

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