FEEDBACK [email protected]
thinking about abuse, says Kot-
kin. What were once thought
of as private matters that pitted
the reputation of vulnerable
individuals against those of
more powerful authority figures
or institutions are coming to
be seen as a societal toxin or
contagion—the kind of threat
about which others should be
warned.
It’s difficult to measure how
widely this effect is playing out
at companies. Some advocates
warn that taking silence clauses
completely off the table could
work against survivors, by
encouraging abusers to litigate
rather than settle. Still, 12
states, including New York and
California, have passed laws to
narrow the scope of NDAs in
harassment and sexual-assault
whistleblowing. Microsoft said
in late 2017 that it had removed
NDAs involving employees
who speak up about sexual
harassment; other companies
have followed suit, some after
scandals within their ranks.
Feinberg, the media-
tor, argues that the onus for
silence should be reversed. “I
think it’s very, very important
that the institution agree to
confidentiality,” he says. “But if
the individual victim wants to
[speak out], I think that’s to be
encouraged.” That represents a
shift in the power balance, from
the institution to the survivor.
Painful though it will be,
many Nassar survivors will
likely be speaking out for a
long time. Yet to be resolved
is whether MSU will expand
its settlement fund if more
victims come forward, and how
it would pay additional costs.
Also looming are lawsuits
against USA Gymnastics and
the U.S. Olympic Commit-
tee (USOC). USA Gymnastics
enlisted Nassar as a team
doctor for years and now faces
100 lawsuits from roughly 350
plaintiffs. In December it filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a
move that put the brakes on
both the lawsuits and media-
tion discussions. (Leslie King,
a spokeswoman for USA Gym-
nastics, says that the organiza-
tion “has focused on keeping
athlete safety and well-being at
the forefront of its efforts.”)
Wrangling with these institu-
tions has led Rachael Denhol-
lander to put the settlement
process on a long list of issues
tied to abuse cases that she be-
lieves should change. At worst,
she argues, the payments ab-
solve big players of examining
their own cultures, giving them
in essence a clean slate. “There
is a complete refusal to want to
discover what went wrong, to
admit what went wrong, and
to deal with it,” she says.
Denhollander and her fellow
survivors plan to speak up to
keep pressure on the institu-
tions where Nassar worked.
“What lessons do we need
to take away from this?” she
says. “That sentencing hearing
was so many women coming
forward publicly. It was the first
time the entire world has got-
ten to see names and faces and
[connect them] with the idea of
sexual assault. We weren’t just
numbers anymore.”Mary Pilon is the coauthor,
with Carla Correa, of Twisted:
The Story of Larry Nassar and
the Women Who Took Him
Down, an audiobook to be
released in July by Audible.The Childhelp National Child
Abuse Hotline is 1-800-4-A-
Child or 1-800-422-4453.“HOW MUCH IS A LITTLE GIRL WORTH?”
WHEN THE
WORLD’S
MOST
POWERFUL
WOMEN
SPE AK ,
STOP
TALKING.
Our daily newsletter follows the career paths of female
leaders, founders, owners, and entrepreneurs who are
changing the face of business.THE BROADSHEET
fortune.comnewsletters