Late last month a lawsuit filed against the WWE and its founder Vince McMahon made national headlines.  The plaintiff, Janel Grant, is a former employee of the company.  She claims that while working at WWE’s principal office in Connecticut, Mr. McMahon engaged in egregious acts of sexual harassment against her. 

Following the alleged harassment, McMahon had Grant sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which obligated her, in exchange for a large sum of cash, to refrain from telling anyone about her dealings with him. 

A key issue of Grant’s lawsuit is the viability of the NDA under federal and Connecticut law.

Here in Massachusetts, there is no statutory law expressly prohibiting NDAs for sexual harassment or discrimination.  Two NDA laws exist.  One bars confidentiality in police misconduct cases.[1]  The other prohibits NDAs within the state legislator.[2]  However, all other NDAs are governed by the state’s contract laws.  At least one newly proposed law seeks to change this.

House Bill H.1778 would prevent any employee-employer lawsuit settlement that prevented one of the litigants from disclosing the details of

  • A sex offense;
  • An act of sexual harassment;
  • An act of discrimination based on sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.

The proposed law is silent on “pre-dispute” NDAs (such as the one between McMahon and Grant) in which employers attempt to silence their employees prior to a suit being filed.  One state senator, Diana DiZoglio, has advocated banning these types of NDAs as well.  In 2020, she posted an article on the Boston Bar’s website which argued that

Eliminating the use of pre-dispute NDAs fosters a more open and inclusive workplace culture, and prevents employers from misleading employees about their rights and duties to disclose. Massachusetts should follow the lead of California[5], New York[6], Washington[7] and other states in eliminating pre-dispute NDAs as a condition of employment. To allow employers the ability to preemptively silence employees and prospective employees regarding practices that, by Massachusetts’ own statutes, are unlawful is insupportable.

To read the full text of H.1778, click the document below.

[1] M.G.L. c. 41, § 98H

[2] Mass. Sen. Rule 11G, 192nd Congress (2019).