Would I be bound by his NDA/non-disparagement?

[Velmy]

If my partner were to sign an anti-disparagement clause when leaving his job, would they be able to go after him if I were to say something disparaging about the company to the press or on social media?

To be clear I would be making these statements off my own back, and they would be my own, personally held views (DP obviously holds similar views), however I'm only party to the information that has formed the basis for them due to conversations with DP and a number of friends who have/still work for the firm.

DP and I are not (currently) married, if that makes any difference. Also, non of this would be covered by whistle-blowing regs.

All staff sign an NDA with their original contract, however this very specifically covers the sharing of commercially sensitive info with certain named competitors.

DP seems to think that there's no mention of 3rd parties in the Non Disparagements but isn't certain as the one he saw was some time ago. If this is correct, can they in effect force an indefinite Non Disparagement on me, by going after him or someone else who could have given me this info?

They could argue that you are making the remarks on his behalf and treat it as him breaching the NDA.

Yes of course because he is only allowed to have told you things (if he even is allowed to do this) if you have also agreed to keep them confidential

Depends on what the obligations are for him.

Does he only have to request that you don’t disclose anything and then his duty is discharged? Or is he responsible for your actions?

Really depends on the wording.

When I was in a similar situation, my solicitor stressed strongly the confidentiality aspect. She recounted a case in education when the child of a headteacher who had been paid off went into school and told people he'd got lots of money to go. This was enough for the former employer to take action.

Whether this was a scare story or not I don't know. But it was drummed into me never to even hint a settlement had been made. That makes life hard because in many workplaces, staff can spot someone having been paid off a miles away so if you meet your former colleagues it means insulting their intelligence.

Just let it go and move on.

I'd not be prepared to test this by doing it. He signs, gets his money, end of for me.

I was in a similar situation (acting for former colleague who had no union rep). The situation was truly horrendous, but I didn't say/write anything after he signed a settlement agreement.

Thanks for your replies all!

To address a few things mentioned...

• The Non Disclosure Agreement (signed when he started) is very basic and specific. Think "Employee agrees not to disclose A, B and C to competitors X, Y and Z." There's nothing in there referencing other third parties, friends, family etc.

• He has not yet signed a Non Disparagement.

• This isn't a 'settlement' situation. While the industry is niche, company is in the public eye, DP is a public face and would need to be replaced instantly. When people in similar positions have left for whatever reason (resigning, company wanting rid, performance, mutual agreement, whatever) there are no normal employment procedures followed; its simply a case of "Home you go, here's what we owe you". There's no 'lump sum' beyond wages owed, so not sure what they could claw back if there was a breach.

I have at no point made an agreement, with either him or his employer, to keep anything confidential.

His NDA does not mention family at all.

In which case you ought not to know anything about the situation. They would therefore say he is in breach

edited since I’ve just seen your other post. I don’t think anyone can say because they haven’t seen the documents he has signed. I’m not sure why you would take the risk though

It very much depends on the wording of the any disparaging clause. In very simplistic terms if he has said things to you that breach that then he's at "fault" because it allows you to then go on and say something. As to the penalties again what's in that document? This second document is probably more important than the first but hard to know for sure without reading both.

A bigger question may be what do you want to achieve and how much tit for tat you're prepared to get into (the current Blake Lively story shows just how badly this can go, with neither party coming out well!) If he was a public face of an organisation any negativity could back fire.

So whilst I get a feeling of wanting revenge or getting things out in the open, it maybe worth taking a moment to consider what that's achieving. And if it's not really for the greater good, and it's just about him/you saving face it may not be worth it.

There is a general implied obligation of confidentiality on employees. Not sure what it is that you want to say to the "press" about them but unless you have proof they may not print it.

Won't that drop your partner in the shit and make them unemployable for life as you spouting stuff to the daily mail surely makes him guilty of disclosing information to you since signing the original NDA?

why would you want to take the chance to get your partner in trouble.

Why are you so determined to publicly flag off his (former) employer? Sometimes it's ok to think things but not say them... What would happen if you just... didn't do it?

How would this possibly be helpful?

just leave it

Just to clear something up as I seem to have caused some confusion - the NDA and Non Disparagement are separate issues.

NDA super specific - Think "As an employee of Pepsi you will not tell Coca Cola how much we pay for our sweeteners". No interest in discussing this and any potential disparaging comments I could make would not be related to anything covered by the NDA.

DP leaving this company would be big news (within his industry) and he'll likely have lots of interview/podcast requests etc where he'll have to mind his Ps & Qs. My concern/question is if, for example, I shared one of these on Facebook and said "So proud of what DP achieved while having to deal with X, Y, Z, and looking forward to a much-improved quality of life for him now he's no longer there" - would that be a breach of his Non Disparagement?

Probably because you would only know about it because he’s told you

it would also make you look batshit and him very unprofessional

I’m begging you to just leave this alone

I didn't want to get into the 'why' as this is in Legal, but briefly as a few people have asked...

A large part of the company's identity is based around what an incredible place it is to work, when this absolutely isn't the case for the majority of staff. It's an incredibly niche and tough industry to get into, and company takes full advantage of that. People assume it's a massive corporate entity, when in reality it's held together by sticky tape. DP has spent years trying to make things better for his colleagues, but very little changes, all while he has to be out in the public eye with a smile on his face about everything.

He believes the only way things will change is if someone of his stature in the industry speaks out...which is why the company gets leavers like him to sign Non Disparagements.

That's my 'legal' question - Would he be breaking his Non Disparagement by making disparaging comments to me? Is telling your wife/husband/mum/whatever how bad things are at work 'disparaging' in the legal sense?

I think (as another poster has noted) that it's more likely they would argue that I'm simply making the comments on his behalf. I'm just not sure what they could do about it, unless something libelous was said.

This is all theoretical at the moment anyway as he has no plans to leave short term, so I'll keep the bat shit under wraps for now! :)

Just leave it OP. Regardless of the legal implications, you'd run a very high risk of making your DP unemployable. Going public in this manner will link you directly to DP who will be known as the guy who can't keep any confidential information secret. Nobody would want to be associated with him. Once your reputation is in question, especially at that level, you can't repair it.
It is not your DP's responsibility to fix the problems at this company. Whoever joins this company, they are all professional adults, they need to deal with any issue themselves or simply leave.
Unless there is a serious problem where employees are being physically or emotionally damaged, and this is the fight for truth to expose dangerous malpractice, there's no point in challenging anything.
It will ruin your DP professionally and financially. He can't fight this expose alone.
If you really want to raise the issues, send an anonymous tip off yo a serious paper like The Times and let them investigate. Although in this day and age I doubt you can be truly anonymous.

Leave it OP. Regardless of whether it is legal or not. These kind of companies have in house lawyers so it will cost them very little to bring this to court. However it could bankrupt you and your dh is lawyer fees. They could then drop the case just before court so you will have paid out all those lawyer fees for nothing.

Ok so if this is his genuine motivation

He believes the only way things will change is if someone of his stature in the industry speaks out...which is why the company gets leavers like him to sign Non Disparagements.

Then he needs to look at how he can speak to an industry issue whilst not focusing on his specific issues. Absolutely not have his DP writing social media snark.

The question then is does he want/need to continue to work in this industry or can he use his stature and one presumes years of experience to advocate for industry change?. There's potential a role in that - it's usually high profile and taking a lot of pot shots from industry stalwarts- so is he the right person to do it, and is now the right time for him?

I wouldn't say anything about it on social media if I were you.

Do not put anything in writing. That's my advice.

Do not say anything

if he has profile then anything you say will be picked up, talked about, and reflect on him. Why on earth would you actively choose to do that?

again. Do not do this!

Why would you even get involved? He shouldn't be talking to you about it.

Please read the thread if you're going to comment. There is zero reason for him not to talk to me about anything.