Gender Discrimination

For years, companies have used non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) and non-disparagement agreements in employment contracts and settlement agreements. These provisions primarily allow companies to protect sensitive business information, but can also be used to prevent workers from speaking about harassment and discrimination in the workplace. While some victims of workplace discrimination enjoy the assurance of privacy that comes with an NDA, others see these provisions as silencing workers. Particularly within the #MeToo movement, NDAs were largely blamed for shielding perpetrators of harassment and discrimination from accountability, prompting significant backlash. California’s SB 331, the “Silenced No More Act,” is the latest in a string of state laws aimed at restricting the use of NDAs and non-disparagement agreements in settlement and employment contracts. Other states – including Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, Vermont, Washington, Tennessee, and Virginia – have recently instituted similar laws. The patchwork of state laws addressing NDAs and non-disparagement provisions, however, is inconsistent. Some laws address all types of workplace discrimination, while others, fueled by the #MeToo movement, address only sexual harassment and assault; some are only applicable to employment contracts and some only to settlement agreements. This article provides an overview of the varying approaches states have […]

Today (July 14) is International Nonbinary People’s Day.  According to a June 2021 study conducted by the Williams Institute, 1.2 million adults in the United States identify as non-binary.[1] “Nonbinary” is an identity embraced by people who do not identify exclusively as men or women.[2]  A nonbinary individual may identify as both a man and woman, somewhere in between, or as falling outside these categories.  Although many nonbinary people identify as transgender, not all do.[3]  Some, but not all, nonbinary people use “they,” “them,” and “their” pronouns;[4] such pronoun usage is not grammatically incorrect and should be respected.  Indeed, the American Dialect Society voted the singular “they” Word of the Year in 2015 and noted that it was used by writers such as Jane Austen, Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Shakespeare.[5]  While nonbinary gender identities are not only a recent phenomenon,[6] media exposure of nonbinary individuals in the United States has increased in recent years.[7] Unfortunately, nonbinary people face discrimination in society.  Survey responses about transgender people’s experiences with employment, education, healthcare, and policing indicate that nonbinary individuals are “suffering significant impacts of anti-transgender bias and in some cases are at higher risk for discrimination and violence” than transgender men and women […]