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The National Labor Relations Board moved from theory to practice in this administration’s battle against restrictive covenants. Recently, the Regional Director of Region 9 of the National Labor Relations Board filed a consolidated complaint alleging that certain restrictive covenants contained in offer letters and policies in an employee handbook violated the National Labor Relations Act. This complaint is a logical…

Continue Reading We’ve Got a Test Case: The NLRB Files its First Complaint Challenging the Validity of Restrictive Covenants
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Wednesday, July 19, 2023
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Central
1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mountain
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific

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Confidentiality obligations and restrictive covenants are crucial tools employed by organizations to protect sensitive information, trade secrets, and competitive advantages. However, recent state law and regulatory developments and NLRB decisions…

Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar! NLRB and Restrictive Covenants: Trends in Employment Confidentiality
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Over last week, two seemingly unconnected events happened that impact restrictive covenant and labor law. First, the National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, issued a memorandum opining that certain non-compete agreements may violate the National Labor Relation Act by suppressing workers’ ability to engage in protected concerted activity. Second, the Supreme Court issued the Glacier Northwest, Inc. v. …

Continue Reading Did the NLRB Preempt Non-Compete Litigation?
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The FTC is not alone in taking aim at non-competes. Yesterday, the NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all regional directors, officers-in-charge, and resident officers at the NLRB stating that non-competes in employment agreements and severance agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act except in rare circumstances. Specifically, Ms. Abruzzo claims that such covenants interfere with workers’…

Continue Reading The NLRB Joins the Fray: Another Attack on Non-Competes
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The Board sent shockwaves through employment law in its February 21, 2023, decision in McLaren Macomb, which held that simply offering a draft settlement agreement with broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). We previously blogged about the McLaren decision and encourage you to read that post for a summary of the decision.

McLaren left unanswered a host of critical questions and, in the month following the decision, employers have not received any further clarity from the Board regarding how this decision will play out in practice. But some clarity—welcome or unwelcome—is coming. At some point this week, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo plans to release a guidance memo that will elaborate on the Board’s position.…

Continue Reading NLRB to Release Memo Clarifying Impact of McLaren Macombs on Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Restrictions

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On February 21, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) once again issued new precedent when holding that the mere proffer of a draft severance agreement containing broad confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions violated the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA” or “Act”). The severance agreement provisions before the Board contained extremely broad restrictions and arose in the context of underlying unfair labor practices (“ULPs”) that included circumventing a certified bargaining representative.  It remains to be seen, therefore, whether the Board will seek to invalidate more narrowly-tailored confidentiality and non-disparagement provisions.…

Continue Reading NLRB Targets Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions

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By Gary Glaser, James McNairy and Marc Jacobs

We are pleased to announce the webinar “Trade Secrets, Restrictive Covenants and the NLRB: Can They Peacefully Coexist?” is now available as a podcast and webinar recording.

In Seyfarth’s fifth installment of its 2016 Trade Secrets Webinar series, attorneys Jim McNairy and Marc Jacobs conveyed strategies and best practices to…
Continue Reading Webinar Recap! Trade Secrets, Restrictive Covenants and the NLRB: Can They Peacefully Coexist?

WebinarRecent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) law in the area of employee handbooks and policies brings new challenges for employers as to how they can best protect their trade secrets and enforce restrictive covenants in their employment agreements without running afoul of the National Labor Relations Act.

On Tuesday, May 10 at 12:00 p.m. Central, Seyfarth attorneys Gary Glaser,…
Continue Reading Upcoming Webinar: Restrictive Covenants and the NLRB: Can They Peacefully Coexist?

shutterstock_242263660As January quickly passed by and new projects increase by the day, there is still a golden opportunity to capitalize on some low-hanging fruit to immediately improve your company’s practices and add immediate value to your company.  The opportunity lies in improving your company’s restrictive covenant and confidentiality agreements and confidentiality policies.  Below are five tips that you can employ…
Continue Reading Five Easy Tips for Improving Your Company’s Non-Compete and Confidentiality Agreements and Related Practices Now

Until December 11, employers thought that they owned their email systems and could limit their use to company business.  On that day, a divided National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) ruled “not so.”  In Purple Communications, 361 NLRB No. 126 (Dec. 11, 2014), the NLRB ruled that employees who have access to an  employer’s email system as part of their…
Continue Reading NLRB “Deletes” Employer Email Rule