With Auditor Diana DiZoglio about to release a potentially troubling report on state settlements and nondisclosure agreements, Gov. Maura Healey on Monday issued a written policy that explicitly bans the use of NDAs across executive branch offices.
Healey’s office mentioned the audit report Monday as it publicized a three-page written policy on employee settlement agreements, which the administration said formalizes a yearlong practice for how the executive branch has handled NDAs. DiZoglio later told the News Service that her audit will be released on Tuesday.
“The timing of this news is interesting as our audit report of settlement agreements, including confidentiality clauses, is being released tomorrow,” DiZoglio said in a statement when asked about Healey’s announcement. “I welcome any and all actions taken by this Administration to help stop the abuse of taxpayer-funded NDAs and will be speaking more about these issues tomorrow when our full report is released.”
The auditor told the News Service in early January that her office would “soon” release an audit of settlement agreements across 75 state agencies, with a focus on confidentiality provisions like NDAs.
“This audit report that will be coming out shortly is not good,” DiZoglio said Jan. 2. “I can’t speak more to it because it hasn’t been released yet, but it’s not good, and we need reforms across state government.”
Healey’s office said Monday it worked with DiZoglio’s team over the past year on “their audit of the use of employee settlement agreements during the previous administration.”
“Through this process, Governor Healey and her team determined it would be beneficial to publicly share many of the policies that their administration has been adhering to since taking office, and that had previously been shared with legal staff,” Healey’s office said.
Healey’s written policy states that since 2018 and during her administration, “the executive department has generally precluded the use of nondisclosure agreements in litigation settlement agreements.”
“Non-disclosure agreements erode public trust and, by their terms, are largely inconsistent with the transparency requirements of the public records law,” the policy states. “Accordingly, nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in settlement agreements are prohibited and shall not appear in executive department settlement agreements.”
The written policy also bolsters settlement recordkeeping and tracking policies for executive department offices, and directs those offices to publish their own public settlement policies. Settlement agreements are public records, but certain personnel information may be redacted, the policy states.
When Healey was away at the Democratic National Convention in August, DiZoglio, who thought she would briefly serve acting governor, drafted an executive order banning state agencies from requiring NDAs in settlements with employees.
In her quest to audit the Legislature, DiZoglio has said she’s looking for Beacon Hill lawmakers to hand over records tied to taxpayer-funded NDAs. Speaker Ron Mariano’s office says the House has not executed NDAs with employees or former employees since the Quincy Democrat took the leadership post.
