Time’s Up Calls for NBC to Release Employees From NDAs

NBC said it would lift the NDAs, but employees will have to ask first

time's up nbc
Tina Tchen, the president of Time's Up, says employees shouldn't have to ask the network to lift their NDAs.
Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Time’s Up, the Hollywood-based organization against sexual harassment, is speaking out against NBC as allegations of sexual misconduct at the company continue to come to light. The organization, founded in January 2018 as part of the #MeToo movement, is calling on NBC to free all former employees from non-disclosure agreements that could be preventing them from speaking about sexual misconduct in the workplace, Time reported.

The pressure from Time’s Up, led by the organization’s president and CEO Tina Tchen, comes after NBC issued a statement Friday saying employees wishing to be released from NDAs should contact the company in order to be freed from any “perceived obligation” to remain quiet. NBC’s statement was first reported by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Friday night, prompting pushback from Tchen and others who argue NBC should simply issue a statement permitting all former employees to speak without fear of retaliation.

“There is no reason to place the burden on those who choose to speak to reveal themselves in advance to NBCUniversal,” Tchen wrote on Twitter. “This is an example of the burdens that perpetuate fear and silence, no matter what new policies and trainings may say.”

Maddow criticized her employers at NBC during her show Friday night, accusing the network of trying to thwart Ronan Farrow’s reporting on allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Time’s Up has also called for NBC to hold an independent investigation into its workplace culture.

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