03-03-2020
On Tuesday, February 25, 2020, Bloomberg LP announced its new mandatory anti-sexual harassment training program. The announcement memorandum to employees was released just hours before Michael Bloomberg participated in the Democratic debate in South Carolina. It highlighted the company’s on-going “zero tolerance” for harassment and discrimination. News reports state that the company’s existing anti-sexual harassment training has been mandatory for years.Last year, Bloomberg LP partnered with the Prevention Innovations Research Center at the University of New Hampshire to create a program called “Bringing in the Bystander.” The program is intended to inform employees on what to do when they observe inappropriate behavior. According to Bloomberg LP, bystander intervention is “among the most proven measures of harassment prevention.” In June 2019, the program was introduced as optional training but will now be mandatory for all employees to complete by April 3, based on the “highly positive feedback” of 1200 participants.
Bloomberg was challenged in his first Democratic debate for non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) his company had entered into with employees alleging sexual harassment/discrimination. Since that debate, Bloomberg has released three women from their NDAs and has indicated that there will no longer be NDAs going forward at his company. Bloomberg LP is currently headed by a management committee while Bloomberg runs for the Democratic nomination.