Warren Goes After Bloomberg Again, Offers Contract To Release Women From NDAs
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) continued to lambaste billionaire and fellow Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg on Thursday, saying she had written a simple contract he could sign that would release dozens of women who filed sex discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits against him and his company from their nondisclosure agreements.
“I used to teach contract law,” Warren said during a CNN town hall in Nevada on Thursday, a day after she excoriated Bloomberg over the NDAs during his first appearance at a Democratic debate. “And I thought I would make this easy. I wrote up a release and covenant not to sue, and all that Mayor Bloomberg has to do is download it ― I’ll text it ― sign it, and then the women, or men, will be free to speak and tell their own stories.”
"I used to teach contract law. And I thought I would make this easy."
Elizabeth Warren opened her #cnntownhall by reading aloud a document to release people from Michael Bloomberg's nondisclosure agreements pic.twitter.com/lDdeRRzbwJ— CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2020
Warren read the provision verbatim on-air and later released the document on Twitter, saying it would be “simple and straightforward” and merely require Bloomberg’s signature.
Mike Bloomberg can easily release the women who have accused him of sexual harassment—and who voluntarily want to speak about their experiences—from their non-disclosure agreements. Take a look at how simple and straightforward it would be: pic.twitter.com/XLncEnSXDF
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) February 21, 2020
Warren was one of several candidates to point to allegations of misogyny and harassment at his company during Wednesday’s debate.
“Mr. Mayor, are you willing to release all of those women from those nondisclosure agreements?” Warren asked on stage. “So we can hear their side of the story?”
Bloomberg attempted to defend himself amid the attacks, saying no one had accused him of “doing anything other than maybe they didn’t like a joke I told.” He later said both parties had signed the agreements “to keep it quiet for everybody’s interests” but declined to say if he would release anyone who wished to speak about their claims publicly.
The former New York City mayor also said during the debate he had “no tolerance for the kind of behavior that the Me Too movement has exposed.”
It’s unclear how many NDAs exist between former employees and Bloomberg, and he wouldn’t say, but 64 women have sued Bloomberg and his company for sex discrimination and sexual harassment over the past two decades. It can be difficult to get out of NDAs, and it would depend on which parties were involved in the agreements: If Bloomberg and Bloomberg LP were both signatories, each entity would have to agree to void the document, complicating matters.
Warren said once again on Thursday that if Bloomberg does not release women from their NDAs, the act would be “disqualifying” for his chances at the Democratic nomination.
Related...
Elizabeth Warren Gets In One More Savage Bloomberg Burn After The Debate
Michael Bloomberg Said NDAs Are 'For Everybody's Interests.' He's Dead Wrong.
What Exactly Is An NDA? Here's What Workers Need To Know Before They Sign.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
