Murphy administration says campaign employees never were bound by NDAs

Sen. Loretta Weinberg says the Murphy administration clarified to her whether Murphy campaign employees are free to speak about possible improper behavior.”

News 12 Staff

Nov 15, 2019, 10:38 PM

Updated 1,622 days ago

Share:

Sen. Loretta Weinberg says the Murphy administration clarified to her whether Murphy campaign employees are free to speak about possible improper behavior.”
Weinberg tells News 12 New Jersey that she has pressured the governor to release the workers from the NDAs. She says that the Murphy administration assured her Friday that the NDAs are only for "proprietary information," and do not prevent any employees from speaking out.
"That if anybody who has signed an NDA knows anything about improper behavior in the atmosphere of the campaign, that person is free to speak,” Weinberg says.
Weinberg and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz said they may reopen hearings into the Murphy administration's hiring practices. The administration came under fire after Katie Brennan, a campaign volunteer accused Al Alvarez, another campaign worker, of sexual assault.
Alvarez went on to get a high-paying job in the state School Development Authority, but no one could say for certain how he was hired. Alvarez has denied the allegations, but resigned from his position once they went public.
Two county prosecutors’ offices declined to press charges against Alvarez.
Clarification: After this interview was completed, Gov. Phil Murphy’s office sent an email to clarify that agreements with campaign employees were not NDAs but a campaign confidentiality policy pertaining only to proprietary information. An administration spokesman later added that campaign policy volunteers did sign NDAs, but “solely limited to the policy work they engaged in.” Campaign vendors did not sign NDAs, “though many had confidentiality provisions based on the scope of work they provided,” the spokesman said.


More from News 12