As the daughter of a single mother who had her at 17, Diana has always had to fight for the things that have mattered to her. A student of Massachusetts public schools, she went to Middlesex Community College. She later earned a financial scholarship to Wellesley College.After serving in the legislature as an aide, as Chief of Staff for the 12,000 member Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and years of work for local nonprofits and community organizations, she won her first race for public office in 2012. Diana served three terms as State Representative for the 14th Essex District. In 2018 was elected to the State Senate.
We know that at least 33 Non-Disclosure Agreements have been used in our House of Representatives. We’ve heard many more exist across our state agencies, however, even the state comptroller’s office has no record of how many state settlements have included taxpayer-funded NDAs as a condition of a settlement for employees who may have suffered harassment, discrimination or abuse.
When victims are forced into silence about abuse, our democracy suffers. This is an issue of racial justice, disability justice, gender justice, LGBTQ justice and beyond. People targeted for harassment, abuse, and violence are far more likely to come from disadvantaged communities because powerful people assume they are vulnerable.
I will audit the use of taxpayer-funded NDAs and hold our government accountable when they are used to silence victims of workplace harassment or other violence.