Trump White House Is Forcing Interns to Sign NDAs and Threatening Them With Financial Ruin

[DonViejo]

Source: The Daily Beast



Not even the interns are exempt from the legally dubious rite of passage practiced by the Trump White House.

Asawin Suebsaeng

02.21.19 5:00 AM ET

When the Trump White House welcomed its newest batch of interns earlier this year, the director of the internship program, Zoe Jackman, did what administration officials normally do when fresh blood arrives: She warned them against being “leakers.”

Soon enough, according to three sources familiar with the process, a representative from the White House counsel’s office materialized to greet the newcomers, and to demand what the Trump White House has required of so many other interns and senior officials.

Upon orientation, the interns signed their very own non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), with the envoy of the counsel’s office warning them that a breach of the NDA—blabbing to the media, for instance—could result in legal, and thus financial, consequences for them. Interns were also told that they would not receive their own copies, these sources said.

This was all a standard facet of the Trump intern orientation process, billed as an “ethics training”—underscored by implicit legal threats from President Donald Trump’s in-house lawyers.



Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-white-house-is-forcing-interns-to-sign-ndas-and-threatening-them-with-financial-ruin?ref=home

[Cicada]

1. Some contractual terms are void because they are contrary to good public policy

This seems clearly unenforceable on grounds of violating good public policy. For instance a will in which a person required his assets be converted to cash and then thrown into the ocean was held void because it violated public policy. So too a will requiring the construction of a brick house to then be torn down and rebuilt over and over until all funds were depleted.

[Girard442]

7. Unfortunately, the threat of litigation is a very effective club.

People without deep pockets can be hammered by a lawsuit -- even a bullshit one.

[olegramps]

27. What type of person agrees to work for this bastard and for free? Screw them.

[Merlot]

38. I don't think Whitehouse interns work for free

[truthisfreedom]

41. There's nothing to be learned in this WH except avoiding

the hamburglar.

[olegramps]

44. I thought they were volunteers therefore without pay. I could be wrong.

Anyway I really don't have any sympathy for them.

[hlthe2b]

2. there is a former staffer organizing a classic action

The Trump campaign loved NDAs. An ex-staffer wants to nullify them with a class action.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/21/trump-campaign-loved-ndas-an-ex-staffer-wants-nullify-them-with-class-action/?utm_term=.19bfc08cc013

A former Trump campaign official filed a class-action claim on Wednesday seeking to nullify all nondisclosure agreements that the campaign had forced its staffers to sign, calling the documents “unenforceable” and “unconscionable.”

The claim, filed by former staffer Jessica Denson with the American Arbitration Association, argues that the NDAs are too broad, too vague and can be used to retaliate against employees who complain of legitimate workplace grievances.

The action opens another front in the battle between President Trump, his campaign and his aggrieved former staff members. Trump — as businessman, candidate and president — has long favored these agreements as a defense against leakers and would-be critics.

Current and former aides told The Washington Post in August that Trump’s widespread use of NDAs exemplifies the paranoid culture of leaks, audio recordings and infighting that has been a part of Trump’s dealings for decades. --more--

[James48]

8. No

It’s nit a lawsuit. It’s a complaint before the American Arbitration Association.

Unfortunately I learned long ago that there is no substitute for a real court. Forced Arbitration Asdociation proceedings are never in the favor of the poor person.

[hlthe2b]

14. Yes...

[moreland01]

3. Good luck with that.

Can't squeeze blood from a turnip. Interns don't have any $$$. Financial consequences? What, you're going to pay them less? LOL!!!

[DetlefK]

4. WTF? You sign something and don't get a copy of what you signed?

Are such contracts even legal?

[PatSeg]

16. I was thinking the same thing

though the burden of truth falls on the aids, who claim they did not receive a copy. Overall, I can't see how such an NDA is legal, this is not one of Trump's businesses - someone should tell HIM that though.

[Sanity Claws]

5. If they were hired without this condition,

showed up for work, and then required to sign a NDA as a condition of their internship, then that smacks of coercion.
Many would choose to say fuck it if they had known they would be faced with a NDA.

[watoos]

11. Really, and what blows my mind,

Trump is forcing volunteers to sign NDA's. No way in hell would that be enforceable. These volunteers must be real die hards to work for nothing under the threat of a law suit.

[exboyfil]

30. It is worse than that

They are working for the US government and not Trump personally. No government official should ever be allowed to dictate employment terms that go beyond those defined by the law. As far as I am concerned, this is an impeachable offense as well.

[PJMcK]

6. The best/worst part of this story

The interns are required to sign the NDAs but they are not allowed to have a copy!

Imagine you're going to sign a contract but the other party won't let you have a copy. How could you enforce your side of the agreement? You'd have to get a court to order its presentation. That's crazy.

This is just another bullying tactic by the Idiot. It's not enforceable anyway.

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. Nice grounds for a suit, I should think.

AND the Trump NDAs have been ruled unenforceable in other situations.

Naturally his WH staff have no regard for propriety, or the law.

[allgood33]

9. I agree. Don't be leakers. Become fully vetted whistleblowers instead. nt

[Honeycombe8]

10. Isn't there a lawsuit over whether the WH can force staff to sign NDAs?

What happened to that?

[dixiegrrrrl]

43. I thought there was one about Trump's women.

Not the WH but Trump personally, or trump biz.

[CTAtheist]

12. No contract is legal if signed under duress. -nt

[DallasNE]

13. An NDA Does Not Expire When You Leave Employment

They continue in effect for a period following employment. That effectively kills resigning in protest so you can air your differences. These things are the response to whistleblower protection laws by establishing financial costs to breaking the terms. I believe Stormy Daniels is being sued for $650,000 for violating hers. These things need to be regulated.

[Roy Rolling]

15. Not a Contract

A contract must be enforceable in a court of law.

This is a scare tactic, and something used by paranoid people who wish to manufacture an image of an Emperor fully-clothed, but who is actually nekkid.

[gordianot]

17. It might be helpful to deny you were ever associated with Trump in any capacity.

Of course that would not work. I am not sure what anyone gets working for that disfunctional orange blob.

[Still In Wisconsin]

18. Boy, THAT sounds like a GREAT job.

I mean, what could possibly go wrong? Wow, what a great way to start a career in government!

[TimeToGo]

19. Is this legal?

This is the government not a private organization.

[zipplewrath]

21. Probably not

But an intern probably doesn't have the resources to test it in court. As several have pointed out, the circumstances of the signing process alone could render them unenforceable.

[exboyfil]

31. It seems that is what Congress is for

How is it not an abuse of power?

Sounds like it is time to gear up another investigation.

[catbyte]

20. "Ethics training" in this White House...

[trusty elf]

40. Yep, that's hilarious!

Of course, ethics have been dyin' in the reshrublican party for some time.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. This is "training" in the sense of training a recalcitrant dog

with threats to choke it if it does something wrong.

[procon]

24. How is that even legal?

These aren't Trump's personal employees, they're public service workers hired by the US Government and paid by American taxpayers. The govt has laws in place for workers, and I doubt there is anything that compels them to sign away their rights to Trump.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. As an intern, they don't get paid

https://money.cnn.com/2013/08/20/news/economy/unpaid-intern-white-house/

We had student interns (volunteers) in my agency and they were a bit different from the co-ops (who usually got pay as a part-time employee, often as part of a "work-study" program and working under agency agreements with various local colleges/universities).

[procon]

35. Regardless, aren't they still govt workers and not

Trump's private employees? Even with a no pay internship, they are still covered by things like workers comp insurance which would be paid by the treasury, not Trump.

[BumRushDaShow]

36. I understand your perspective

but no, they don't have many of the same "protections" as a paid civil service worker, although they would probably be eligible fill out a WC-1 form should something happen to them on the job and see how it gets handled.

The bigger issue here is that they apply for these positions and as I posted in this thread, would generally be GOP rubes if desiring to work in this WH.

[SWBTATTReg]

32. Good point. Also, I thought that using NDAs to hide evidence of illegal activities voids the ...

NDAs. I seem to recall reading this sometime ago in DU land.

[BumRushDaShow]

25. Anyone dumb enough to want to work in there

is a GOP rube.

[Maggiemayhem]

26. If they are unpaid interns then chances are they come from privileged families

How else can they afford to live in a high rent city? Unpaid internships, except if they are near your family home are not for regular people.

[RobinA]

39. Laws Don't Apply

to people from privileged families?

[EarthFirst]

28. Fear & Intimidation on Day 1...

No wonder the average life span in this administration is less than one year.

[ffr]

33. The Mob.

Welcome to it.

Undermining all that WAS good about America, in the name of greed.

[mpcamb]

34. Any way to do a Cease and Desist order? With teeth in it?