City Council bans councilors from requiring that staff sign NDAs

Boston City Council voted Wednesday to prohibit councilors from requiring that their staff enter into non-disclosure agreements as a condition of employment. The use of NDAs by councilors has been under public scrutiny since Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested on federal public corruption charges in December. 

City Council voted 11-0 in favor of the measure, with two members absent. Fernandes Anderson was among those who voted in favor. 

When Fernandes Anderson was arrested for allegedly orchestrating a kickback scheme involving a family member who she hired to be a part of her staff, prosecutors said that she required staffers to sign NDAs as a condition of employment. They were barred from disclosing “confidential information” to anyone without Fernandes Anderson’s permission, something former U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said struck investigators as “unusual.” 

Fernandes Anderson refused to resign and pleaded not guilty to the charges. Her colleagues did not talk about her arrest and the investigation surrounding her during Wednesday’s meeting.  

Councilor Erin Murphy introduced a hearing order about a potential NDA ban just days after Fernandes Anderson was arrested. 

“While NDAs and confidentiality agreements are often intended to protect sensitive information, their use in municipal government raises serious concerns,” Murphy said Wednesday. “It is essential to balance the need for confidentiality with the public’s right to transparency, particularly when these agreements have the potential to conceal misconduct, limit accountability or erode public trust.”

Fernandes Anderson said that she copied the language of her NDAs from a colleague and that other councilors used them, but that she wholeheartedly supported the move to get rid of the practice.

“There could be different reasons why people have NDAs,” Fernandes Anderson said during the meeting. “In fact, I copied mine from a colleague. Many of us have them. But we can get rid of them.”

Councilor Ed Flynn said that the entirety of the city government should be included in the ban. He led an effort to amend the order so that it recommended the city prohibit NDAs across all departments. 

“We’re hiding something when NDAs are signed and kept quiet. The public deserves the right to know,” Flynn said. “Hiding behind an NDA only adds confusion. It only adds rumor or facts that are unclear to people. It brings out the worst in people as well. NDAs have no place in city government.”

The amendment effort was defeated after four councilors voted in favor, three voted against, and four voted “present.” Seven “yes” votes were needed. Flynn voiced his displeasure on social media. Flynn and Murphy plan to file a home rule petition next week that would ban NDAs across the entirety of the city government. 

“We don’t write rules for the rest of city departments,” Councilor Liz Breadon said.

Multiple councilors referenced a recent audit from State Auditor Diana DiZoglio that found that NDAs were used across the state government for years, despite an informal ban that was implemented by former Gov. Charlie Baker. Gov. Maura Healey said that she has prohibited the use of NDAs since the first day of her administration, but issued a formal, written policy codifying that ban just before DiZoglio’s audit was released.