Secret
Settlements
are UnAmerican
Our founding
fathers believed
that our single
best protection
against tyranny
is freedom of
speech. That’s
why freedom of
the press is in
the First
Amendment, up
there with
freedom of
religion and the
right to
petition the
government when
we’ve been
wronged. So,
when I was
reading a
letter to the
editor of the
L.A. Times from
a Time Warner
executive
explaining how
the secret
settlement in
former HBO
chieftain Chris
Albrect’s 1991
sexual
harassment case
was “managed
appropriately,”
I thought,
ah-ha! Here’s
something that
is threatening
Justice 4 all of
Us.
According to
the press
reports, prior
to being
arrested in Las
Vegas for
allegedly
assaulting a
woman identified
as his
girlfriend,
Albrecht had
been the target
of sexual
harassment
allegations by a
female co-worker
at HBO. A
lawsuit was
filed and then,
secretly settled
in the
$400-500,000
range. Albrecht
kept moving up
at Time Warner,
no word on the
female co-worker
and everything
was nice and
hush-hush until
something didn’t
stay in Vegas.
The point isn’t
that Albrecht
and HBO did
anything wrong
in 1991. But the
Albrecht episode
is an excellent
example of how
secret
settlements
distort
America’s view
of civil
justice.
It’s so common
that defendants
demand secrecy
when they settle
civil claims for
things like
personal injury,
insurance bad
faith or product
liability, that
I’ve had
numerous cases
where the
defense lawyers
tried to slip in
a
“confidentiality
clause” into a
settlement
agreement even
though it wasn’t
part of the
deal. They
usually try to
insist on
secrecy by
arguing, “Well,
that’s the way
we always do
it.” I always
fight them on
it, because,
well, I believe
that freedom of
speech equals
liberty and
justice. Lot’s
of people don’t
fight, they just
sign. The result
is, there is a
lot of mischief
and evil conduct
that gets hidden
away behind a
door marked
“confidential
settlement.”
Anyhow, think
about secret
settlements the
next time you
see an
advertisement
attacking civil
justice. Don’t
you think it’s
worth asking,
“What would the
story be if I
had all the
facts, not just
the ones big
business wanted
me to know
about?” Oh, and
you should start
paying attention
to who is paying
for those ads
and wondering
why they think
it’s worth
spending all
that cash.
It’s your
freedom, after
all. Benjamin
Franklin would
want you to hold
on to it.
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