The public has a right to know when the powerful seek to gag the vulnerable. This was the campaigning stance taken by The Daily Telegraph when it pursued Sir Philip Green at the start of the #MeToo movement. In August 2018, The Telegraph planned to run a story of allegations of misconduct made against Sir Philip by five employees. He was granted an injunction preventing him being named, so the news brand ran a story saying that a “leading businessman” was involved in a number of NDAs with former employees. Just two days after the court’s ruling, Sir Philip was named by Lord Hain in the House of Lords.
In February 2019, Sir Philip ended his action to prevent The Telegraph from publishing the allegations of bullying and sexual harassment. The news brand went on to publish details of the alleged abuses of people working in his business empire that were at times racial, physical and sexual. The Telegraph estimated Sir Philip’s legal bill to be about £3m after the judge told him to pay the bulk of the newspaper’s costs.
Following The Telegraph’s revelations about Sir Philip Green, the Government made changes to the law to tackle the misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in the workplace, including those being used to cover up sexual harassment, racial discrimination and assault.
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein affair, we became aware that gagging orders called NDAs were being used to cover up allegations of sexual misconduct and racial abuse in the workplace. And that led to our investigation into Sir Philip Green and Arcadia. We maintain there is a clear public interest in telling people whether a prospective employer has been accused of abuse.
Chris Evans, Editor of The Telegraph
