Times Radio interview Georgina Calvert-Lee about NDAs since Me Too

Georgina Calvert-Lee explains to Times Radio how NDAs work and can be misused in employment contracts to have silencing effects.

Georgina and interviewer Jenny Kleeman also discuss the use of NDAs in the light of the Me Too movement, often cited as one of the key reasons sexual harassment was able to be perpetuated for so long.

What is an NDA?

An NDA is any confidentiality clause in a contract which prohibits disclosure of information. The majority of NDAs which arise in a sexual harassment context are contained within settlement agreements, which are contracts used to settle claims and potential claims made against employers, often at the termination of someone’s employment.

There are limits to what an NDA can prohibit. They cannot, for example, prevent someone from reporting a crime to the police or from reporting a regulatory breach to a regulator, such as the FCA. They cannot prevent someone from making a protected disclosure, that is a disclosure under whistle-blowing legislation.