§ 1001.Provisions Preventing Disclosure of Facts Related to Claim In Administrative Action Prohibited

Chapter 3.5 targets a specific #MeToo-era concern: settlement agreements used to keep a pattern of misconduct hidden from future victims. Section 1001 prohibits any settlement-agreement provision that prevents or restricts disclosure of factual information related to a claim filed in a civil action or an administrative complaint involving certain acts of sexual assault, sexual harassment as defined in Civil Code § 51.9, workplace harassment or discrimination or retaliation under Government Code § 12940, or housing-related harassment, discrimination, or retaliation under Government Code § 12955. Courts can't enter an order, even by stipulation, that restricts disclosure in a way that conflicts with this rule.

The statute does leave the claimant one option. At the claimant's own request, a settlement agreement can still include a provision shielding the claimant's identity and any facts that would reveal it, including court filings — unless a government agency or public official is a party to the settlement, in which case that protection isn't available. Outside that narrow carve-out, and outside the separate protection for the settlement amount itself under subdivision (e), a provision restricting disclosure of the underlying facts in an agreement entered on or after January 1, 2019, is void as a matter of law and against public policy.

Section 1002 works alongside this one, covering a related but distinct category of claims tied to conduct that could be prosecuted as a felony sex offense. Chapter 3.6's § 1002.5 addresses a separate confidentiality issue in employment settlements: no-rehire provisions rather than disclosure restrictions.