WASHINGTON
(AP) — Mike Bloomberg said Friday he’d free three women from
confidentiality agreements that bar them from speaking publicly about
sexual harassment or discrimination suits filed against him over the
last three decades.
The
billionaire former mayor of New York also said his company, Bloomberg
LP, will no longer use such agreements “to resolve claims of sexual
harassment or misconduct going forward.”
His
remarks come after days of intense scrutiny over the treatment of women
at the company he’s led for three decades, and amid pressure from
Democratic presidential rival Elizabeth Warren to allow the women to
share their claims publicly. Warren hammered Bloomberg over the issue in
the recent debate, his first time facing his rivals. The announcement
Friday highlights his efforts to remove a vulnerability ahead of the
next debate, on Tuesday in South Carolina, and refocus his campaign
ahead of March 3, known as Super Tuesday, when he will be on the ballot
for for the first time.
Bloomberg
didn’t automatically revoke the agreements, but told the women to
contact the company if they would like to be released. The three
agreements he’s willing to open up relate specifically to comments he’s
alleged to have made. His company reportedly faced nearly 40 lawsuits
involving 65 plaintiffs between 1996 and 2016, though it’s unclear how
many relate to sexual harassment or discrimination.
Bloomberg said in a statement he’d done “a lot of reflecting on this issue over the past few days.”
“I
recognize that NDAs, particularly when they are used in the context of
sexual harassment and sexual assault, promote a culture of silence in
the workplace and contribute to a culture of women not feeling safe or
supported,” it continued.
But his move only prompted more criticism from his rivals.
“That’s
just not good enough,” Warren said while campaigning Friday in Las
Vegas, a day before the Nevada caucuses. “If there are only three, then
why didn’t he sign a blanket release?”
A
spokeswoman for former vice president Joe Biden’s campaign said
Bloomberg’s action “tells the public nothing,” by only addressing three
agreements.
“If
Mayor Bloomberg wanted to release all current and former Bloomberg LP
employees from NDAs, he surely could have done so — and he still can and
should,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in the
statement.Bloomberg’s Friday statements mark a stark departure from his
remarks about the agreements in this weeks debate. He called the
agreements“consensual” and said women who complained “didn’t like a joke
I told.” The remarks were viewed by some as out-of-touch with the post-#MeToo era,
which has prompted far more serious scrutiny of sexual harassment and
innuendo by men in the workplace. Bloomberg is one of the country’s
richest men, worth an estimated $60 billion.
It
was the first time Bloomberg was truly put on the spot in an otherwise
choreographed campaign, where he’s been promoting his message via
television advertising and scripted speeches rather than debates and
town halls with voters.
One
of the women covered by Bloomberg’s announcement is Sekiko Sekai
Garrison, 55, who filed a complaint against Bloomberg and his company in
1995. She did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on Friday.
Garrison’s
complaint, reviewed by the Associated Press, was filed when she was
about 30 and alleged Bloomberg told her to “kill it” when she told him
she was pregnant with her first child. The lawsuit details several other
alleged personal interactions with Bloomberg and describes a
misogynistic corporate culture where women were typically paid less than
men, subject to routine sexual harassment and demoted or fired if they
complained.
In
the alleged incident, Garrison said Bloomberg approached her near the
office coffee machines and asked about her married life. When she told
him she was pregnant with her first child, he said “kill it,” in a
serious monotone. He allegedly then repeated it and called her “number
16,” a reference to the number of pregnant women employees.
Bloomberg
has denied making the remarks. But Garrison said he left her a
voicemail apologizing and calling the remark a joke. She resigned from
the company.
Lawyer
Bonnie P. Josephs, who filed the 1995 complaint on Garrison’s behalf,
told AP on Thursday that she later handed the case off to another
attorney. Josephs said she was then told that Garrison had settled the
case against Bloomberg for a “six-figure sum” and signed a nondisclosure
agreement.
A
longtime Bloomberg aide confirmed that case was one of the three
agreements Bloomberg mentioned in his statement, in which an NDA was
signed that directly related to Bloomberg. The other two cases never
went to court and are not public.
Bloomberg
also said his company would undertake a review of its policies on equal
pay and promotion, sexual harassment and discrimination and the use of
“other legal tools” that prevent cultural change. He also pledged to
push policies if elected president that expand access to childcare and
reproductive health and guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave.
“I will be a leader whom women can trust,” he said.
__
Ronayne
reported from Sacramento. Associated Press reporters Michael Biesecker
in Washington, Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, and Yvonne
Gonzalez in Las Vegas contributed.
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