Gov. Newsom Signs Silenced No More Act, a Win for California Tech Workers

Harri Weber

Harri is dot.LA's senior finance reporter. She previously worked for Gizmodo, Fast Company, VentureBeat and Flipboard. Find her on Twitter and send tips on L.A. startups and venture capital to harrison@dot.la.

Gov. Newsom Signs Silenced No More Act, a Win for California Tech Workers

Earlier today Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Silenced No More Act into law, minting new protections for workers who speak out about discrimination and harassment.

The law bars California companies from using non-disclosure clauses in settlement and severance agreements to stop workers from publicly discussing cases of sexual harassment, discrimination and assault in the workplace. It goes into effect next year and is not confined to the tech industry, however it has drawn new attention to the sector's widespread use of NDAs to silence workers.


"The California State Legislature and Governor Newsom have now spoken: California workers should absolutely be able to speak out — if they so wish — when they are a victim of any type of harassment or discrimination in the workplace," said the bill's author, State Senator Connie Leyva. The act cleared the California Legislature at the end of August and sat on Newsom's desk as the governor fought off a recall challenge.

Sen. Leyva also spearheaded the Stand Together Against Non-Disclosures (STAND) Act in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The STAND Act was signed into law in 2018 and enabled workers such as former Pinterest Public Policy Manager Ifeoma Ozoma to speak out about gender-based discrimination. However the earlier legislation failed to offer safeguards for workers facing racial harassment.

"We have multiple identities and you often can't separate those different characteristics," Mariko Yoshihara, policy director at the California Employment Lawyers Association, told dot.LA in August.

"So for [Ozoma] to have an NDA that just covered race-based discrimination but she was free to talk about gender discrimination doesn't make sense because she was discriminated against because she was a Black woman, not just because she was Black."

"I'm just so proud," Ozoma said in a statement to MarketWatch, "Turning years of pain into change for 40 million people. It's so epic I don't have the words."

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit
Photo: Relativity Space

The largest 3D-printed object to ever fly had liftoff yesterday as Long Beach-based Relativity Space launched its Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Terran 1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at around 7 p.m. PST March 22. It was Relativity’s third attempt at sending Terran 1 to the cosmos and the nighttime launch was quite a sight to behold. The clarity of the night sky was perfect to see the blue jets of flame cascading out of Terran 1’s nine Aeon 1 engines, all 3D-printed, as the rocket took off.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la

Sports Stadiums Are Turning to Immersive Sound to Keep Fans Engaged

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Sports Stadiums Are Turning to Immersive Sound to Keep Fans Engaged
Photo: Edge Sound Research

In 2020, the Minnesota Twins experimented with a new technology that brought fans the ability to physically feel the sounds they were hearing in the stadium in the back of their seats as part of a new immersive way to experience baseball.

The tech was made by Riverside-based startup Edge Sound Research, which built a mobile lounge – basically, a small seating section equipped with its technology and on wheels to travel around the stadium – for Twins fans to experience what it calls “embodied audio” around Target field. It was a bid on the Twins’ part to keep fans more engaged during the game, and Edge Sound Research CEO Valtteri Salomaki said the Twins were impressed.

Read moreShow less
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la

LA Venture: B Capital’s Howard Morgan on What To Look For in Potential Founders

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Venture: B Capital’s Howard Morgan on What To Look For in Potential Founders
Provided by LAV

On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, B Capital Group General Partner and Chair Howard Morgan discusses his thoughts on early stage investing and the importance of company ownership.


Read moreShow less
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending