On the Nevada debate stage last month, Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg said the non-disclosure agreements that his company asked employees were “agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet, and that’s up to them. They signed those agreements, and we’ll live with it.”

Business Insider spoke to at least a dozen former Bloomberg LP employees who said they had signed agreements limiting their ability to speak freely. Almost no one agreed to speak on the record, and some vividly described a powerful sense of fear at risking the ire of Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg or the dozens of loyal aides in his employ.

“We agree to stay silent not because we don’t want our side heard,” said one former employee, “but because we often need the money to help repair the massive financial damage incurred after unexpectedly losing a job and spending thousands on lawyers in hopes of winning some of it back.”

“The full force of the Bloomberg machine, when it’s directed at you, is pretty intense,” another former employee said. “Never underestimate how scary it has been for so many women.”

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On the Nevada debate stage last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg about how many non-disclosure agreements his company had signed with employees, and if he would release them from those agreements to talk about their experience.

Bloomberg declined, describing the NDAs as “agreements between two parties that wanted to keep it quiet, and that’s up to them. They signed those agreements, and we’ll live with it.”

But a Business Insider investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace culture at Bloomberg found several women who wanted to speak out about their experiences, but feared doing so. Business Insider spoke to at least a dozen former employees who signed agreements with the company that limited their ability to speak freely. Almost no one agreed to speak on the record, and some vividly described a powerful sense of fear at risking the ire of Mike Bloomberg or the dozens of loyal aides in his employ.

“The full force of the Bloomberg machine, when it’s directed at you, is pretty intense,” one former employee said. “Never underestimate how scary it has been for so many women.”

Bloomberg LP says the company will stop using confidentiality agreements to resolve sexual harassment claims, and would release three women who had made specific allegations against Mike Bloomberg from their NDAs. Warren responded that three releases were not good enough, calling for a blanket release.

Two women who signed NDAs with Bloomberg tell Business Insider that the agreements weren’t voluntary, and that they wish they could speak out

In interviews with more than 40 current and former Bloomberg LP employees, Business Insider has found allegations of a toxic, macho workplace culture fueled by fear, in which powerful people screamed at underlings and bullied them with impunity. When they reported claims of inappropriate behavior to human resources, these staffers said, they were routinely ignored.

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One lawyer who has represented several women in disputes with Bloomberg initially agreed to speak to Business Insider on the record, but backed out on the advice of his internal counsel because of fears that his comments might violate the non-disparagement agreements that some of his clients have signed.

Two women who signed such agreements – and who are not among the three that Bloomberg has agreed to release – told Business Insider that their continued silence is not voluntary.

“NDAs are never signed by ‘two parties who wanted to keep it quiet,'” said one woman who signed an NDA with Bloomberg LP. “They are signed by women who are often broke and unemployed and lack the resources to press a case against a billionaire. We agree to stay silent not because we don’t want our side heard, but because we often need the money to help repair the massive financial damage incurred after unexpectedly losing a job and spending thousands on lawyers in hopes of winning some of it back.”

Another former Bloomberg employee who signed an NDA said, “I would gladly talk on the record about this, but I can’t. I’ve been waiting for a long time to have my experience come out, but also at the same time living with fear about talking about it. And it doesn’t seem fair that I went through this thing – this is my life – and I’m not even allowed to share what happened to me. This is why it would suck if Bloomberg was elected president. He silenced all these people. We don’t know half the things that have gone on at his company.”

A Bloomberg spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement: “We offer severance agreements, which contain routine confidentiality provisions, to employees whose employment is coming to an end for a variety of reasons. Whether they choose to accept the offer is entirely up to them.”

A former employee who came forward with sexual harassment allegations withdrew her cooperation after telling Business Insider that she had been advised to retract her story

Last month, a former Bloomberg LP employee sent an unsolicited email to Business Insider alleging that she had experienced sexual harassment at the company. The woman agreed to share her story anonymously, and after a Business Insider reporter spent two weeks investigating her allegation – including obtaining contemporaneous documentary evidence that Mike Bloomberg had been personally informed of her complaint – we presented the reporting to Bloomberg LP for comment. The company replied that it had “investigated this complaint thoroughly” at the time and was “unable to corroborate the specific allegations.”

Twenty-seven hours after we first contacted Bloomberg LP about her allegations, the woman withdrew her cooperation, saying she had been advised to retract her story. Business Insider is honoring her request not to report details that she had previously provided for publication.

In a statement, a Bloomberg spokesperson said the company played no role in the source’s reversal. “We did not contact the former employee upon hearing from Business Insider and have not been in communication with her. We would never pressure someone to retract their story.”