(Protocol) The law, which will apply to Washington employers including Microsoft and Amazon, will take effect on June 9 of this year. The Washington version of the bill had been pushed forward by former Apple engineer Cher Scarlett and former Google employee Chelsey Glasson. Both Scarlett and Glasson testified in support of the bill, discussing their own experiences at Apple and Google and their fears that speaking out about problems at the companies would risk violating their NDAs. Glasson settled a pregnancy discrimination suit against Google last month.
The law builds on prior legislation passed in California last year, which was inspired by the stories of Ifeoma Ozoma and Aerica Shimizu Banks, two former Pinterest employees who spoke out in 2020 about discrimination and retaliation they faced at Pinterest. An earlier #MeToo-era law had made it possible for California employees to talk about gender and sexual discrimination and harassment they experienced. But the Silenced No More Act expanded that law to apply to all forms of illegal harassment and discrimination.
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