ANALYSIS: Stormy Daniels and the decline of the nondisclosure agreement
New York — Porn star Stormy Daniels’s alleged one-night stand with Donald Trump spotlights how nondisclosure agreements (NDA), for years a mainstay of corporate America, are increasingly navigating choppy waters in the wake of the MeToo movement. For decades, murky out-of-court settlements allowed powerful men from A-list celebrities to the board room to hush up affairs, workplace harassment or even alleged sexual abuse. In exchange for often hefty sums of money, incidents were brushed under the carpet, the victim saved the indignity of being dragged through the courts and careers besmirched, and companies were shielded against frivolous claims and bad publicity. Confidentiality agreements have also become a standard part of employment contracts, sometimes for non-controversial purposes, such as safeguarding company research or industrial secrets. But on the downside, they offer repeat harassers the chance to do it again — look no further than sex scandals that ultimately brought do...
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