II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1314 

To establish that certain provisions of a nondisclosure agreement between 

a public sector employer and an employee shall be unenforceable. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish that certain provisions of a nondisclosure agreement between a public sector employer and an employee 

shall be unenforceable. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Silencing Victims 

5 Act’’. 


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•S 1314 IS

1 SEC. 2. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCEABLE 

2 UNDER THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 

3 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

4 2000e et seq.) is amended by adding after section 717 the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 717A. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCE7 ABLE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any covered provision of a non9 disclosure agreement that is entered into by an employee 

10 described in section 717(a) and an entity to which such 

11 section applies shall be unenforceable against that com12 plainant employee. 

13 ‘‘(b) COVERED PROVISION.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘covered provision’ means a provision of a nondisclosure 

15 agreement— 

16 ‘‘(1) that is entered into after the date of enact17 ment of the Stop Silencing Victims Act; 

18 ‘‘(2) that prohibits the disclosure of information 

19 relating to an allegation or series of allegations that 

20 could plausibly give rise to a valid claim of sex dis21 crimination; and 

22 ‘‘(3) relating to material that is not otherwise 

23 prohibited by law from being disclosed. 

24 ‘‘(c) DEFENSE.—In any action or proceeding to en25 force a covered provision, an employee described in section 

26 717(a) may raise as a defense the unenforceability of a 


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•S 1314 IS

1 covered provision of a nondisclosure agreement, as set 

2 forth in this section. 

3 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Personally identifying in5 formation about a complainant employee that would 

6 otherwise be held confidential in accordance with a 

7 covered provision of a nondisclosure agreement shall 

8 not be made public, unless the complainant employee 

9 chooses to make that information public. 

10 ‘‘(2) UNLAWFUL RETALIATION.—A violation of 

11 the prohibition described in paragraph (1) may be 

12 considered evidence of unlawful retaliation against 

13 the complainant employee.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCEABLE 

15 UNDER THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE 

16 RIGHTS ACT OF 1991. 

17 Title III of the Government Employee Rights Act of 

18 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16a et seq.) is amended by adding 

19 at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 305. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCE21 ABLE. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any covered provision of a non23 disclosure agreement that is entered into by a Presidential 

24 appointee described in section 303 or a State employee 

25 described in section 304 and an entity employing such apVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 May 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1314.IS S1314

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1 pointee or employee, as the case may be, shall be unen2 forceable against that complainant Presidential appointee 

3 or State employee. 

4 ‘‘(b) COVERED PROVISION.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘covered provision’ means a provision of a nondisclosure 

6 agreement— 

7 ‘‘(1) that is entered into after the date of enact8 ment of the Stop Silencing Victims Act; 

9 ‘‘(2) that prohibits the disclosure of information 

10 relating to an allegation or series of allegations that 

11 could plausibly give rise to a valid claim of sex dis12 crimination; and 

13 ‘‘(3) relating to material that is not otherwise 

14 prohibited by law from being disclosed. 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFENSE.—In any action or proceeding to en16 force a covered provision, a Presidential appointee de17 scribed in section 303 or a State employee described in 

18 section 304 may raise as a defense the unenforceability 

19 of a covered provision of a nondisclosure agreement, as 

20 set forth in this section. 

21 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Personally identifying in23 formation about a complainant Presidential ap24 pointee described in section 303 or State employee 

25 described in section 304 that would otherwise be 


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•S 1314 IS

1 held confidential in accordance with a covered provi2 sion of a nondisclosure agreement shall not be made 

3 public, unless that complainant appointee or em4 ployee chooses to make that information public. 

5 ‘‘(2) UNLAWFUL RETALIATION.—A violation of 

6 the prohibition described in paragraph (1) may be 

7 considered evidence of unlawful retaliation against 

8 the complainant appointee or employee.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCEABLE 

10 UNDER THE CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT11 ABILITY ACT OF 1995. 

12 Title II of the Congressional Accountability Act of 

13 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 208. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCE16 ABLE. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any covered provision of a non18 disclosure agreement that is entered into by a covered em19 ployee and an employing office shall be unenforceable 

20 against that complainant covered employee. 

21 ‘‘(b) COVERED PROVISION.—In this section, the term 

22 ‘covered provision’ means a provision of a nondisclosure 

23 agreement— 

24 ‘‘(1) that is entered into after the date of enact25 ment of the Stop Silencing Victims Act; 


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1 ‘‘(2) that prohibits the disclosure of information 

2 relating to an allegation or series of allegations that 

3 could plausibly give rise to a valid claim of sex dis4 crimination; and 

5 ‘‘(3) relating to material that is not otherwise 

6 prohibited by law from being disclosed. 

7 ‘‘(c) DEFENSE.—In any action or proceeding to en8 force a covered provision, a covered employee may raise 

9 as a defense the unenforceability of a covered provision 

10 of a nondisclosure agreement, as set forth in this section. 

11 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Personally identifying in13 formation about a complainant covered employee 

14 that would otherwise be held confidential in accord15 ance with a covered provision of a nondisclosure 

16 agreement shall not be made public, unless the com17 plainant covered employee chooses to make that in18 formation public. 

19 ‘‘(2) UNLAWFUL RETALIATION.—A violation of 

20 the prohibition described in paragraph (1) may be 

21 considered evidence of unlawful retaliation against 

22 the complainant covered employee.’’. 


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•S 1314 IS

1 SEC. 5. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT UNENFORCEABLE 

2 UNDER TITLE 3 OF THE UNITED STATES 

3 CODE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title 3, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 411 the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘§ 411A. Nondisclosure agreement unenforceable. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any covered provision of a non9 disclosure agreement that is entered into by a covered em10 ployee and an employing office shall be unenforceable 

11 against that complainant covered employee. 

12 ‘‘(b) COVERED PROVISION.—In this section, the term 

13 ‘covered provision’ means a provision of a nondisclosure 

14 agreement— 

15 ‘‘(1) that is entered into after the date of enact16 ment of the Stop Silencing Victims Act; 

17 ‘‘(2) that prohibits the disclosure of information 

18 relating to an allegation or series of allegations that 

19 could plausibly give rise to a valid claim of sex dis20 crimination; and 

21 ‘‘(3) relating to material that is not otherwise 

22 prohibited by law from being disclosed. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFENSE.—In any action or proceeding to en24 force a covered provision, a covered employee may raise 

25 as a defense the unenforceability of a covered provision 

26 of a nondisclosure agreement, as set forth in this section. 


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•S 1314 IS

1 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Personally identifying in3 formation about a complainant covered employee 

4 that would otherwise be held confidential in accord5 ance with a covered provision of a nondisclosure 

6 agreement shall not be made public, unless the com7 plainant covered employee chooses to make that in8 formation public. 

9 ‘‘(2) UNLAWFUL RETALIATION.—A violation of 

10 the prohibition described in paragraph (1) may be 

11 considered evidence of unlawful retaliation against 

12 the complainant covered employee.’’. 

13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

14 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

15 after the item relating to section 411 the following new 

16 item: 

‘‘411A. Nondisclosure agreement unenforceable.’’. 

Æ 


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