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Countless women have been coming forward to say #MeToo and share their traumatic stories of sexual harassment and assault. But there are many stories we’re not hearing. These stories are being silenced by extremely broad nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), some made at the outset of employment and others when settling litigation over sexual harassment. They stop victims from talking. They also silence other employees who witness sexual harassment of co-workers. NDAs were a powerful device used by Harvey Weinstein to hush up what he was doing.

In her new book, You Don’t Own Me: How Mattel v. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie’s Dark Side, Professor Orly Lobel tells a fascinating story about the Barbie versus Bratz litigation, which went on for about a decade. Her book is a page turner — told as a story that could readily be a movie. The book succeeds brilliantly as a gripping tale. But it goes beyond great storytelling to explore many important issues related to business, employment, and intellectual property: the enormous power of corporate employers, the weaponized use of intellectual property to stifle innovation, the dismal failure of business ethics, the troubling use of nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) to maintain dominance and power, and the punishing litigation process. Continue Reading