Condé Nast to End NDAs, But Union Says That’s Not Enough

Condé Nast is ending nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, for harassment and discrimination.
In a company-wide note, new chief people officer Stan Duncan announced that the media company, which owns The New Yorker, Vogue and GQ, will no longer enter into NDAs “that prevent an employee from making a disclosure of conduct they were subjected to that they believe, in good faith, constitutes harassment, discrimination or retaliation.”
It also plans to release existing NDAs in these matters and advised anyone who is currently in an NDA that wishes to be released to come speak with its legal team, “who will handle these requests on a case-by-case basis.”
“At Condé Nast, our journalism has brought important issues of workplace conduct to light and made significant contributions to the conversation about how to improve professional environments,” he said in the note.
“One thing frequently noted is that nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements impede transparency — and can sometimes allow bad actors to go on and harass or discriminate against others. Our reporting on issues at other companies has prompted us to reconsider the role of NDAs at our own company,” he added.
Duncan noted that there are legitimate arguments in favor of NDAs in certain circumstances, including confidential settlements that

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