Women who signed NDAs with UPEI 10 years ago break their silence, call for permanent release
CBC talks to Emma Phillips about NDAs and sexual harassment allegations at the University of Prince Edward Island
In 2012, two women (the “complainants”) reported that the president of the University of Prince Edward Island sexually harassed them. They filed complaints with the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission, and those complaints were settled in 2013. The settlements included Non-Disclosure Agreements (“NDAs”) that prevented the complainants from discussing the matter.
In 2021, a new allegation of harassment was made against the now-former president of the university. In response, the university engaged a Toronto law firm to conduct a review of its harassment, discrimination and fair treatment processes. The university offered to temporarily release the complainants from their NDAs so they could speak to the investigator.
The complainants refused> In a statement, they said that although they were willing to participate in the investigation, they would do so only if they were permanently released from the NDAs. They explained:
A temporary release does not give silenced victims their voice; rather, a temporary release for the purpose of a review and/or investigation gives the victim’s voice to those who ultimately control and shape the report. The temporary release then re-silences victims who have no opportunity to speak to the way their story might be represented or excerpted or redacted in the final report, or the way their story is reported in the press. A temporary release does not give victims their voice; it gives their voice to others.
While initially telling CBC that the complainants were released from the terms of their agreement for the purposes of participating in the review process”, the university later claimed that it had released the two complainants from their NDAs, and that “this was not limited only to their participation in the investigation and review.”
CBC asked Emma Phillips to respond to that:
Emma Phillips, counsel to one of the two complainants, said UPEI’s suggestion it had released the women from their NDAs “is simply inaccurate.”
Phillips said there was an offer from the university to that effect, but it was never followed up.
“Even when the complainants then brought a legal action seeking to be released from their NDAs, the university took the position that they should only be released for the purposes of participation in the review,” Phillips said via email.
“It is hard to understand how the university can now claim that they were willing to permanently release the complainants all along.”
You can read the statement and the entire article here.