Warren says Bloomberg must release women from NDAs and 'answer for' alleged comments
'When women raise concerns like this, we have to pay attention,' Warren said
Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said on Monday that her rival Michael Bloomberg should release women who used to work at his businesses from nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) after a number of lawsuits claiming harassment and discrimination.
"I think NDAs are a way for people to hide bad things they've done. And I think that women should be able to speak," Warren said in Fort Madison, Iowa, on Monday. "They need to be released from NDAs."
The work environment at Bloomberg LP has been the subject of multiple complaints since the firm's inception in 1981, according to legal filings.
"When women raise concerns like this, we have to pay attention. We have to listen to them, and if Michael Bloomberg has made comments like this, then he has to answer for them," Warren said on Monday.
Mike Bloomberg (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Several suits are ongoing, as noted by Business Insider, including one filed in October from an employee who claims to have been fired while undergoing cancer treatment.
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Other cases include a dismissed class action lawsuit on behalf of more than 70 women claiming the company discriminated against mothers and pregnant women, and former executive Johnna Ayres' suit against Bloomberg and Bloomberg LP in 2018 over sex and age discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation.
In a recent statement to The New York Times regarding Bloomberg's alleged history of crude remarks toward women, Bloomberg's team said the businessman has come to see that "some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong."
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"He believes his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life," spokesman Stu Loeser told the Times earlier this month.
FOX Business' inquiry to Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg's campaign were not immediately returned.
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FOX Business' Brittany De Lea contributed to this report.