5 ms·

So I can disparage my former employer that laid me off?

shagie 4y ago
It depends on when you signed the non-disparagement agreement. > The decision involved severance agreements offered to furloughed employees that prohibited them from making statements that could disparage the employer and from disclosing the terms of the agreement itself. Was the agreement part of getting hired? or getting laid off? That said, I suspect that this will result in a reduction of severance agreements since there is very little that the company can gain out of a severance agreement now (I am assuming this also extends to various "you can't sue the company for wrongful termination" and similar).
- kayodelycaon 4y ago
  A lot of severance stuff is questionably enforceable. Discrimination lawsuits can still be successfully brought under a number of circumstances. You can’t just put a clause in it. This is especially true if the employee is laid off and forced to sign immediately.
- banannaise 4y ago
  > That said, I suspect that this will result in a reduction of severance agreements since there is very little that the company can gain out of a severance agreement now (I am assuming this also extends to various "you can't sue the company for wrongful termination" and similar). This wasn't the case from the establishment of the original precedent until 2020 when that ruling was reversed. We're simply going back to a state that has existed for decades, and in which severance agreements were by no means rare.
deleted 4y ago
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worldmerge 4y ago
What does "disparage" mean in this case? Just like saying it was a bad situation, or bad culture or bad management?
- jagged-chisel 4y ago
  I would personally err toward keeping things factual, interjecting little opinion.
  - shagie 4y ago
    Note that disparagement extends to factual statements too. https://www.g-s-law.com/blog/disparagement-and-defamation-1-2y2zs https://www.g-s-law.com/blog/disparagement-and-defamation-1-... > Disparagement means anything negative statement about someone or something. So the non-disparagement provision in your employment agreement or severance agreement applies to any and every negative statement. It does not matter if the statement is true or not, opinion or fact. If your statement makes your employer look bad, it is disparagement. If you have signed a non-disparagement agreement, the best advice is likely "decline to say anything about the subject."
    - jagged-chisel 4y ago
      I'd definitely be arguing, via a lawyer, that "negative" is in the eye of the beholder. Employees do not benefit from layoffs, shareowners do, for example.

It depends on when you signed the non-disparagement agreement. > The decision involved severance agreements offered to furloughed employees that prohibited them from making statements that could disparage the employer and from disclosing the terms of the agreement itself. Was the agreement part of getting hired? or getting laid off? That said, I suspect that this will result in a reduction of severance agreements since there is very little that the company can gain out of a severance agreement now (I am assuming this also extends to various "you can't sue the company for wrongful termination" and similar).

kayodelycaon 4y ago
A lot of severance stuff is questionably enforceable. Discrimination lawsuits can still be successfully brought under a number of circumstances. You can’t just put a clause in it. This is especially true if the employee is laid off and forced to sign immediately.
banannaise 4y ago
> That said, I suspect that this will result in a reduction of severance agreements since there is very little that the company can gain out of a severance agreement now (I am assuming this also extends to various "you can't sue the company for wrongful termination" and similar). This wasn't the case from the establishment of the original precedent until 2020 when that ruling was reversed. We're simply going back to a state that has existed for decades, and in which severance agreements were by no means rare.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

worldmerge 4y ago

What does "disparage" mean in this case? Just like saying it was a bad situation, or bad culture or bad management?

jagged-chisel 4y ago
I would personally err toward keeping things factual, interjecting little opinion.
- shagie 4y ago
  Note that disparagement extends to factual statements too. https://www.g-s-law.com/blog/disparagement-and-defamation-1-2y2zs https://www.g-s-law.com/blog/disparagement-and-defamation-1-... > Disparagement means anything negative statement about someone or something. So the non-disparagement provision in your employment agreement or severance agreement applies to any and every negative statement. It does not matter if the statement is true or not, opinion or fact. If your statement makes your employer look bad, it is disparagement. If you have signed a non-disparagement agreement, the best advice is likely "decline to say anything about the subject."
  - jagged-chisel 4y ago
    I'd definitely be arguing, via a lawyer, that "negative" is in the eye of the beholder. Employees do not benefit from layoffs, shareowners do, for example.