Reports: Breitbart News seeks to stop ex-employee criticism
March 15, 2016
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In assessing why the Michelle Fields - Corey Lewandowski dispute had such media legs, I previously assessed that there was a great dislike of Breitbart News among other media types and bloggers in part because of its treatment of employees, The Michelle Fields controversy is only barely about Michelle Fields:
Breitbart News has a reputation for having particularly sharp elbows as to employees. And many of us know those employees and former employees and have heard stories. That doesn’t mean Breitbart News does anything it’s not legally entitled to do, but, for example, people being locked into strict contracts seems pretty rough in a business where people float around a lot for relatively little pay. The Dana Loesch lawsuit created a lot of ill will among conservative bloggers.Non-disparagement clauses -- in which parties agree not to criticize each other -- long have been rumored to be part of Breitbart News employee contracts. Indeed, there was a suggestion in the Breitbart News post about Ben Shapiro -- which was taken down with an apology -- that there might be legal action based on contractual provisions:
Shapiro, a Harvard lawyer and member of the State Bar of California, apparently violated virtually every clause in his employment contract during an appearance on The Kelly File last Thursday evening.Now Politico reports that unnamed former employees have been getting cease and desist letters: