Google employees who have signed concealment clauses can still talk about assault, harassment, discrimination or retaliation they experience at work, the company wrote in a proxy statement ahead of its annual meeting on June 1. It’s the most detailed public statement the company has made regarding these legal protections, which states including California and Washington are beginning to require employers to use in non-disclosure agreements.
Google’s statement came in response to a shareholder proposal that would have required Google to issue a public report studying the impact of concealment clauses on harassment and discrimination claims. Apple recently lost its fight against a similar proposal, after first trying to get the proposal excluded altogether.
In its new proxy statement, Google opposed the proposal, arguing that the company’s NDAs already give employees the flexibility to discuss these kinds of workplace violations. “Specifically, [Google’s] employment agreement provides that ‘nothing in this Agreement limits any right I may have to discuss terms, wages, and working conditions of employment, as protected by applicable law,’” the proxy statement reads. “In addition, its severance and settlement agreements provide that ‘consistent with applicable law, nothing in this Agreement prevents you from disclosing the facts or circumstances underlying your claim or action for sexual assault, sexual harassment, workplace harassment or discrimination, the failure to prevent...
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