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Democratic Presidential Candidate Mike Bloomberg Under Fire For Not Backing Away From Confidentiality Agreements


Last week, Democratic Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg stated that he would not back away from enforcing confidentiality agreements with his company that several women had previously signed.

There were apparently several cases in the 1990's in which Bloomberg was alleged to have made crude remarks and fostered an uncomfortable environment for women to work at his company, Bloomberg L.P.  As a result, several lawsuits arose and were resolved, in part, with confidentiality agreements.  (Although there are still three lawsuits currently pending against the company.)  Bloomberg has denied any allegations that have been raised and has championed his company as having an enviable record of gender equity.

Now that Bloomberg is running for the Democratic nomination for President, attention has turned to those prior allegations.  This past weekend, Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, again called on Bloomberg to release these women from the confidentiality agreements and stated that "women should be able to speak" and the use of non-disclosure agreements was "a way for people to hide bad things they've done."  Attention quickly pivoted to whether Bloomberg would release these women from the confidentiality agreements.

I am not necessarily surprised that Bloomberg has balked at this request.  If he had wavered or fumbled the matter, it would likely have drawn increased scrutiny.  While Bloomberg is likely hoping this matter dissipates in the coming weeks, should Senator Warren (or other prominent Democrats) press the matter, this could become a growing headache for Bloomberg and his campaign.  After all, sexual harassment allegations had been made against the 2016 Senator Bernie Sanders campaign for President and continue to dog his campaign this election cycle.



For additional information:  https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/bloomberg-wont-release-women-sued-secrecy-agreements/story?id=68171036

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