總裁俱樂部丑聞后續(xù)：女招待可以報警

The staffing agency that hired 130 hostesses to work at the notorious Presidents Club charity dinner last month has told the women they can disregard the confidentiality agreements they signed in order to report criminal behaviour to the police.

為上月舉辦的臭名昭著的總裁俱樂部(Presidents Club)慈善晚宴招募了130名女招待的勞務(wù)中介機構(gòu)告訴這些女性，她們可以不用管她們簽署的保密協(xié)議，向警方報告犯罪行為。

The hostesses were told by their agency, Artista, to sign the non-disclosure agreements on arrival at the Dorchester Hotel, where the charity dinner — which had an exclusively male guest list — has been held annually for the past 33 years.

這家叫做Artista的中介機構(gòu)曾告訴這些女招待，她們一到多切斯特酒店(The Dorchester)就要簽署保密協(xié)議。過去33年，總裁俱樂部的慈善晚宴每年都在這里舉行，參加晚宴的嘉賓都是男性。

The women were given little time to read the agreements and were not provided with a copy of the documents, raising concerns among legal professionals that the agreements were used to intimidate female staff from reporting wrongdoing.

這些女招待幾乎沒有時間閱讀這些協(xié)議，也沒有拿到協(xié)議副本，這令法律專業(yè)人士擔心，這些協(xié)議被用來恫嚇這些女服務(wù)員不要報告非法行為。

A Financial Times investigation of the event found that many of the hostesses were sexually harassed, propositioned or groped by male attendees on the night. The Presidents Club charity closed down shortly after the FT published its investigation.

英國《金融時報》對該事件的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，當晚，許多女招待遭到了男嘉賓的性騷擾、求歡或猥褻。在英國《金融時報》公布調(diào)查后不久，總裁俱樂部停止營業(yè)。

Caroline Dandridge, founder of Artista, emailed the women last week to advise them that they were free to report any criminal behaviour that took place to the police.

Artista創(chuàng)始人卡洛琳•丹德里奇(Caroline Dandridge)上周給這些女招待發(fā)去電子郵件，建議她們可以自由地向警方匯報任何發(fā)生過的犯罪行為。

She said: “The Presidents Club Charity have asked me to make it clear that if you wish to complain to either me or them or the police about any illegal or criminal behaviour, the deed of confidentiality you signed does not stop you doing that, which I am sure you all know.”

她表示：“總裁俱樂部慈善組織要求我向你們澄清，如果你們希望向我或他們或者警方投訴任何非法或犯罪行為，你們簽署的保密協(xié)議不會阻止你們這么做，我肯定，你們都知道這一點。”

Max Winthrop, a partner at Short Richardson & Forth, the law firm, said Artista’s decision to tell the hostesses they could report a crime to the police several weeks after the event was akin to “shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted”.

Short Richardson & Forth律師事務(wù)所的合伙人麥克斯•溫思羅普(Max Winthrop)表示，在事情發(fā)生幾周后，Artista決定告訴這些女招待，她們可以向警方報告犯罪行為，這種做法無異于“亡羊補牢”。

He added: “It sounds as if [the use of NDAs] is a particular problem in the more precarious sectors of the economy — you are talking about vulnerable workers who can be intimidated in a way that workers who are better paid and can take advice are not.”

他補充說：“在較不安穩(wěn)的行當中(使用保密協(xié)議)聽起來像是一個特殊問題——你談?wù)摰氖侨鮿莨と耍麄兛赡鼙欢矅?，而那些待遇更好且能獲得建議的工人是不會受到這種恫嚇的。”

Three days before the event took place, Ms Dandridge told the hostesses via email that they would sign an NDA on the night. The email stated: “Absolutely nothing must be discussed/disclosed before, during or after the event to anyone, your flatmates, boyfriends, work colleagues — ever.

在事件發(fā)生三天前，丹德里奇通過電子郵件告訴女招待，她們將在當晚簽署一份保密協(xié)議。她在電子郵件中表示：“在活動舉行之前、期間或之后絕對不能向任何人，你的室友、男朋友以及同事討論和透露任何信息——永遠不能。”

“Absolutely NO comments about this event on any social media. You will have signed an NDA. This is a legally binding document.”

“絕對不能在任何社交媒體上說起這一活動。你們將會簽署一份保密協(xié)議。這是一份具有法律約束力的文件。”

Ms Dandridge did not respond to a request for comment on the move to release the hostesses from their agreements.

丹德里奇沒有回應(yīng)記者提出的就不再讓女招待受保密協(xié)議約束置評的請求。

The Presidents Club guest list included 360 high-profile figures from politics, business and the entertainment industry, including Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative MP and minister for children and families, and Ocado boss Tim Steiner. One of the hosts was David Walliams, the comedian and children’s author.

總裁俱樂部嘉賓名單包括來自政界、商界和娛樂界的360位知名人士，其中包括保守黨議員、兒童及家庭事務(wù)部長納齊姆•扎哈維(Nadhim Zahawi)和Ocado老板蒂姆•施泰納(Tim Steiner)。其中一位主持人是喜劇演員、兒童文學(xué)作家大衛(wèi)•威廉姆斯(David Walliams)。

More than 100,000 people signed an online petition after the scandal calling on the government to reintroduce rules that protect employees from harassment from third parties such as clients or customers.

在丑聞發(fā)生后，超過10萬人在網(wǎng)上簽署了請愿書，呼吁政府恢復(fù)關(guān)于保護雇員不受客戶或顧客等第三方騷擾的法規(guī)。

Section 40 of the Equality Act, which made employers liable for an employee being harassed by a third party, was repealed in 2013.

規(guī)定雇主應(yīng)對雇員受第三方騷擾承擔責任的《平等法》第40條(Section 40 of the Equality Act)于2013年被廢止。

The petition stated that the current legal framework allowed “organisations like the Presidents Club [to] turn a blind eye to blatant sexual abuse because they aren’t culpable”.

請愿書中指出，目前的法律框架允許“像總裁俱樂部這樣的組織對明目張膽的性騷擾視而不見，因為它們不必擔責”。