Broadway Deal Over Rudin Shows Will Limit Nondisclosure Agreements

Performers and stage managers will be released from nondisclosure agreements they signed to work on four Broadway shows connected to the producer Scott Rudin under a settlement between the Broadway League and Actors Equity Association.

The union said that producers would no longer require actors or stage managers to sign such agreements unless approved by the union, which might sign off on them in limited circumstances to protect things such as intellectual property or financial information. The League didn't comment.

Rudin, one of the most powerful producers on Broadway, was facing accusations that he had behaved tyrannically toward a variety of people who worked with him, prompting an Equity stage manager to alert the union to the nondisclosure agreements.

In the spring of 2015, the union asked Rudin to release employees from the nondisclosure agreements, and in January of this year, the union filed two unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union said that nondisclosure agreements restricted worker rights. The complaints were initially filed against Rudin and his general manager because they were not currently producing on Broadway or in Hollywood, and last year Rudin resigned as a member of the Broadway League.

The union learned that nondisclosure agreements were being used by four Broadway productions.

The National Labor Relations Board complaints were withdrawn by the union after reaching a settlement with the League. The League has agreed to release confidentiality, nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements any actor or stage manager who signed with the four recent productions, according to a copy of the settlement agreement. Many of the workers in Rudin's office were required to sign nondisclosure agreements as part of their employment contracts.

Nondisclosure agreements have come under increased scrutiny.

"Exploitation feeds off of isolation, and there is no stronger tool for a harasser than silence," said the union's general counsel.

It's not clear how often nondisclosure agreements are used.

We intend to tell our members broadly about this settlement, and if they are asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement, we are going to push back.