by Mary Margaret Olohan
2020 presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg announced Friday that he will release women from their non-disclosure agreements related to sexual harassment and gender discrimination lawsuits.
The former New York City mayor announced in a Friday statement that his company has “gone over its record” and identified three NDAs that Bloomberg signed with women over the past 30 years related to complaints about comments he allegedly made.
“If any of them want to be released from their NDA so that they can talk about those allegations, they should contact the company and they’ll be given a release,” Bloomberg said in the statement.
“I’ve done a lot of reflecting on this issue over the past few days and I’ve decided that for as long as I’m running the company, we won’t offer confidentiality agreements to resolve claims of sexual harassment or misconduct going forward,” he added.
Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made.
If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release. https://t.co/bO9JpvSx1T
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 21, 2020
The 2020 presidential candidate noted that NDAs “promote a culture of silence in the workplace and contribute to a culture of women not feeling safe or supported,” especially when they are related to sexual harassment and sexual assault, and that it is “imperative that when problems occur, workplaces not only address the specific incidents, but the culture and practices that led to those incidents.”
“And then leaders must act,” Bloomberg added.
The statement came after 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren attacked Bloomberg on Wednesday night at the Democratic debates over his failure to release women from their NDAs.
“I’d like to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians, and no I’m not talking about [President] Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg,” she said.
“Democrats are not going to win if we have a nominee who has a history of hiding his tax returns, of harassing women, and of supporting racist policies like red lining and stop and frisk,” Warren added.
Warren said she will support whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, but warned that Democrats will be taking a huge risk if they substitute “one arrogant billionaire for another.”
The Bloomberg campaign did not yet respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
– – –
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Mike Bloomberg” by Rubenstein. CC BY 2.0. Background Photo “Debate Stage” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
