This is a key victory in Obtaining final court approval of a settlement agreement to free Trump campaign workers formerly bound to silence

New York, NY (June 7, 2023) — Today, a federal court in New York granted preliminary approval of a class action settlement, which would forever free all campaign workers formerly bound to silence. Under the proposed settlement agreement, the Trump campaign admits that the non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions of a form contract (“NDA”) signed by all of the 2016 campaign workers are invalid and unenforceable, conceding that Ms. Denson’s precedent-setting victory over the NDA in March 2021 should apply to all signers. 

Critically, the settlement goes beyond the Campaign’s recent concessions in this case, ensuring that permanent class-wide invalidation of the NDA has the force of law. The terms of the settlement are effective pending court approval.  

Jessica Denson, who first sued to invalidate the NDA in 2018 as a pro se litigant said, “Silence was never an option for me. On my path to victory, I endured the threat of financial ruin to expose the danger Donald Trump poses to the free world. It is remarkable and gratifying that on the brink of federal accountability for Trump, the Court has brought my victory one step closer to forever freeing his staffers to speak the truth to the American people.”  

The Court has scheduled a fairness hearing for October 11, 2023, ahead of which the parties will notify class members of the proposed settlement agreement. 

Today’s ruling is, in all likelihood, the beginning of the end for the 2016 Trump Campaign’s illegal NDA.

Protect Democracy, Bowles & Johnson PLLC, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Jessica Denson and other former 2016 Trump campaign workers to put a stop to the campaign’s ongoing efforts to silence its former workers, and to make clear that public officials and candidates for office cannot use campaign NDAs to forever strip workers of their right to participate in public debate. 

More information about the case is available here.