On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) continued its aggressive application of the National Labor Relations Act (“Act” or “NLRA”) to workplaces without union representation and lessened the value of severance agreements for all employers by finding it unlawful for an employer to merely proffer a severance agreement that includes broad non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions to an employee. In McLaren Macomb, the Board held that a severance agreement that contains a confidentiality clause and a non-disparagement clause was unlawful because, in the Board’s view, these provisions impermissibly infringe on employees’ rights under the Act. Specifically, the Board found that these two provisions limit employees’ ability to discuss their wages, hours, and working conditions (which could include disparaging remarks) with other employees, prevent employees from assisting other employees seeking assistance, and hinder employees themselves from seeking assistance from the NLRB, unions, and other outside organizations.
Following the FBI’s recent raid of the office and home of Michael Cohen the bounds of the attorney-client privilege have become a topic of debate and discussion. During the raid, the FBI seized business records, documents, recordings, and emails. Earlier this week, Judge Kimba Wood for the Southern District of New York ruled that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York could review the documents seized with a special team in place to review for privilege despite Mr. Cohen’s objections to this process.
Thus, the question has quickly become when is the ...
In a decision issued in late October, AssuredPartners, Inc. et al. v. William Schmitt, 2015 IL App. (1st) 141863 (Ill. App. 2015), the Illinois Appellate Court struck down as overbroad and unreasonable, the noncompete, nonsolicit and confidentiality provisions in an employment agreement. The Court then refused to judicially modify or “blue pencil” these provisions because the Court deemed their deficiencies “too great to permit modification.” This decision is essentially a primer on current Illinois law regarding restrictive covenants and confidentiality ...
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Recent Updates
- Spilling Secrets Podcast: Can FTC’s Non-Compete Ban Survive Without Chevron Deference?
- Teeing-Up a Circuit Split on the FTC’s Noncompete Rule: Pennsylvania Judge Diametrically Opposes Earlier Decision by Texas Judge
- Pennsylvania Passes Law Limiting Use of Noncompetes for Health Care Practitioners
- Plaintiffs in Ryan Case Seek Nationwide Injunction of FTC Noncompete Rule; U.S. Chamber of Commerce Also Seeks Associational Standing
- Federal Court Denies Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration Seeking Expanded Scope of Injunction Staying the FTC’s Noncompete Rule