Day on Torts
Herman Cain has been accused of sexual harassment. He denies the allegations.
What about the women who asserted the claims? The ones who allegedly received money from the National Restaurant Association, Mr. Cain’s employer at the time? What do they say?
Apparently, they aren’t saying anything because as a condition of the settlements they were required to sign confidentiality agreements. In other words, they agreed not to discuss the settlement or the allegations as a condition of the settlement.
Secret settlements are standard operating procedure in many types of cases. I will leave for another day a discussion of the pros and cons of such provisions.
I have no idea whether Mr. Cain harassed anyone. But Mr. Cain and the NRA should release the women from the confidentiality provisions and allow them to tell the public their version of what happened. Doing this is the only way to permit the public to make an informed judgment about the events and whether the events should have any impact on Mr. Cain’s ability to serve as President.
This is not only in the best interest of the public – it is also in the best interest of Mr. Cain. His denials are meaningless if he insists on keeping the confidentiality agreements in force. The public will wonder what he is afraid of will punish him for his failure to permit the information to be released.