Comments on: Pennsylvania Considers Banning Confidential Sexual Harassment Settlements

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 07:14:42 +0000

In reply to Jeanne. There are some terrible people, absolutely, but this law would give companies no reason to settle. Proving harassment in the court is much more difficult than getting a company to settle. Which means getting legal counsel will be much more difficult. Lawyers need to be paid and if you substantially reduce the chance of a settlement or win, you'll have to pay up front. Very few people can afford that. And companies can vastly increase the cost of going to court by extending deadlines, increasing the number of people to be deposed, etc. It really puts the victims at a disadvantage.

By: Evil HR Lady

Evil HR Lady — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 07:12:05 +0000

In reply to Jeanne.

I’m not moving to Facebook. This is staying. I’ve had an EHRL facebook page for a long time, I’m just changing that so it’s now a group instead of an individual page.

Everyone can still ask anonymous questions! No worries.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 20:09:44 +0000

BTW: I am curious why you are moving to Facebook. It means we cannot tell our stories anonymously. Is that your point? I haven’t seen a lot of problems with trolls here yet some might appreciate anonymity.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 20:07:42 +0000

Judy works very hard to protect her constituents, more than many. While it would not be perfect, things are not working now either. The secrecy allows abusers to continue to abuse again and again. Do any of them stop after a confidential settlement? No. They just move on to the next victim. We need to remove the incentive for companies to protect predators. I agree that both sides have lawyers but the power imbalance is still huge: often a big company with limitless resources against a victim without a job. Does the victim agree to the settlement or get blackballed? I am sick of the way the abuser is protected. The ones at my company were all managers. Everyone knew they did it. Yet he only abused peons so there was nothing we could do. Just saying “No” negatively affected my reputation and career. It is incredibly naive to think having a lawyer puts you on an equal footing.

By: Dorothy

Dorothy — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 19:32:15 +0000

This proposal assumes the accused are always guilty. Many settlements are made for other reasons than the accused’s guilt.

I have a man friend who has documentary proof he didn’t harass his accuser. The company paid her what they considered the insignificant sum of $10,000 to go away. It later turned out she’d made exactly the same sort of accusation against a previous employer and they’d also paid her to go away.

In both cases the accuser walked away with money she didn’t deserve, and, under this proposed Pennsylvania law, both men would have been publicly exposed in a way that implied they were guilty.