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(Art design by Bea Feitler)

By Ava Blando and EP Oropeza | For Charlotte Bennett, alleged harassment at the hands of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) led to years of costly litigation and “extraordinary pain.” Bennett’s state-level case was finally settled in April, with a little-known clause included: If a worker settles a case accusing their employer of sexual harassment, discrimination or any form of abuse, their employer may legally include a “no-rehire” clause in the settlement. This clause bars accusers from seeking future jobs with their employer.

No-rehire clauses can also bar workers from employment with any affiliates, subsidiaries or partners of their ex-employer’s organization. If another company hires an employee, and it is later acquired by or merged with a company that employee has a no-rehire clause with, a federal court affirmed in 2023 that the worker can legally be terminated from that new job, too.

In an age of mergers and monopolies, the consequences of a no-rehire clause may follow a victim of workplace harassment forever. Depending on the size of their former employer, an ex-employee could be barred from hundreds of different companies if their settlement includes a no-rehire clause.

New York state Assemblymember Catalina Cruz (D) introduced AB 293 to fully ban such clauses across the state. If the Assembly bill and its Senate counterpart were passed, New York would join California and Vermont as the only states prohibiting or limiting these clauses.

(Click here to read more)

(Phil Noble / WPA Pool / Getty Images)

By Vivian Rose | Every year since 1995, member nations of the U.N. have come together to discuss the planet’s climate crisis during COP meetings. This year marks the 30th annual meeting, which will be held Nov. 10 to 21 in Belém, Brazil. 

What COP30 won’t say out loud: The green transition is accelerating colonialism, and women are paying the price. Climate justice starts with women, ecology and an end to extractive capitalism.

(Click here to read more)

(Kaylee Greenlee / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

By Bonnie Fuller | Vi Burgess is a resident physician in Colorado, in training to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. The Texas resident went to medical school in the Lone Star State, but says she’d be terrified to return home to practice medicine.

“I’d be terrified to go back to Texas to practice as an OB-GYN after I finish my residency. I’d be absolutely terrified. It’s not so much that I’d be terrified of getting thrown in jail, but terrified that I won’t be able to provide care to a woman—and that would lead to serious harm or death.

“I think that’s every doctor’s biggest fear—not being able to help and ultimately ending up hurting someone. But that’s the situation that OB-GYNs and other doctors are now in, in Texas.”

(Click here to read more)

Listen to the latest podcast from Ms. Studios! The first episode of Looking Back, Moving Forward is out now on Apple Podcasts + Spotify.

This episode traces the transformation of women’s economic experiences over the last 50 years, zooming in on workplace discrimination, women’s unpaid domestic and care burdens, and the factors pushing women disproportionately into poverty — revealing how the system seeks to devalue all of “women’s work,” and what feminists are doing about it.

We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!

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