Mike Bloomberg says 3 women can be released from NDAs

Mike Bloomberg. Image via AP.

But his move only prompted more criticism from his rivals.

“That’s just not good enough,” Warren said while campaigning Friday in Las Vegas, a day before the Nevada caucuses. “If there are only three, then why didn’t he sign a blanket release?”

A spokeswoman for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign said Bloomberg’s action “tells the public nothing,” by only addressing three agreements.

“If Mayor Bloomberg wanted to release all current and former Bloomberg LP employees from NDAs, he surely could have done so — and he still can and should,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in the statement.

Bloomberg’s Friday statements mark a stark departure from his remarks about the agreements in this week’s debate. He called the agreements “consensual” and said women who complained “didn’t like a joke I told.” The remarks were viewed by some as out-of-touch with the post-#MeToo era, which has prompted far more serious scrutiny of sexual harassment and innuendo by men in the workplace. Bloomberg is one of the country’s richest men, worth an estimated $60 billion.

It was the first time Bloomberg was truly put on the spot in an otherwise choreographed campaign, where he’s been promoting his message via television advertising and scripted speeches rather than debates and town halls with voters.

One of the women covered by Bloomberg’s announcement is Sekiko Sekai Garrison, 55, who filed a complaint against Bloomberg and his company in 1995. She did not respond to a phone message seeking comment on Friday.

Garrison’s complaint, reviewed by the Associated Press, was filed when she was about 30 and alleged Bloomberg told her to “kill it” when she told him she was pregnant with her first child. The lawsuit details several other alleged personal interactions with Bloomberg and describes a misogynistic corporate culture where women were typically paid less than men, subject to routine sexual harassment and demoted or fired if they complained.

In the alleged incident, Garrison said Bloomberg approached her near the office coffee machines and asked about her married life. When she told him she was pregnant with her first child, he said “kill it,” in a serious monotone. He allegedly then repeated it and called her “number 16,” a reference to the number of pregnant women employees.

Bloomberg has denied making the remarks. But Garrison said he left her a voicemail apologizing and calling the remark a joke. She resigned from the company.

Lawyer Bonnie P. Josephs, who filed the 1995 complaint on Garrison’s behalf, told AP on Thursday that she later handed the case off to another attorney. Josephs said she was then told that Garrison had settled the case against Bloomberg for a “six-figure sum” and signed a nondisclosure agreement.

A longtime Bloomberg aide confirmed that case was one of the three agreements Bloomberg mentioned in his statement, in which an NDA was signed that directly related to Bloomberg. The other two cases never went to court and are not public.

Bloomberg also said his company would undertake a review of its policies on equal pay and promotion, sexual harassment and discrimination and the use of “other legal tools” that prevent cultural change. He also pledged to push policies if elected President that expand access to childcare and reproductive health and guarantee 12 weeks of paid leave.

“I will be a leader whom women can trust,” he said.