With increasing frequency, Colorado is mandating its employees — some of them whistleblowers calling out misconduct or malfeasance — sign non-disclosure clauses in any financial settlement they make with the state, effectively silencing them from ever letting anyone know what happened in their cases, according to interviews and dozens of records reviewed by The Denver Gazette.
In other instances over the past three years, records show state employees who faced discipline for alleged misconduct were instead given lucrative send-offs and assurances of the government’s silence through similar non-disclosure deals.
Confidentiality agreements have the potential to bury evidence and prevent investigations of crimes, discrimination, sexual harassment and wage inequality, leading to a growing chorus of lawmakers and advocacy groups calling for them to be abolished.
The Gazette also uncovered dozens more examples where state employees agreed to the non-disclosure clauses, sometimes for a payment of as little as $2,000, with little public record available to explain why.
Since 2019, there have been more than 80 settlement agreements with state employees totaling more than $4 million in taxpayer payouts, each with a non-disclosure clause preventing them from discussing it with anyone, records show.
Critics say the agreements are little more than government efforts to prevent the airing of its dirty laundry. The few proponents of the practice say it’s an effective method of trimming...
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