Legal Alert: NLRB Judge Finds Confidentiality and Non-Disparagement Provisions in Employment Agreement Violate NLRA

Executive Summary: Employers who seek to protect their confidential business information and their reputations by requiring employees to sign employment agreements containing confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses may now face opposition from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In Quicken Loans (January 8, 2013), an ALJ in the NLRB’s Phoenix region held that such clauses violate section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) because they tend to chill employees’ exercise of their Section 7 rights.