Are nondisclosure agreements legal?
QAs part of being hired several years ago, I signed a nondisclosure agreement, or NDA. At the time, I was told it was routine. Am I required to cooperate with the NDA no matter what?
— L.A., Torrance
AAn NDA is a contract and employers often use them to protect sensitive information, such as trade secrets. NDAs have been under increased scrutiny because in some instances they shield wrongdoing that simply ought not to be protected. In 2019, for example, California restricted (and in some instances prohibited) use of an NDA related to issues of sexual assault or harassment. Consultation
Is there information an NDA does not protect even if broadly worded? — B.T., San Marino
Awith qualified counsel is advisable if you are uncertain of what you can and cannot disclose.
QAn NDA may not be enforceable to protect (a) information already in the public domain, (b) information to which you already had access, (c) information you have been ordered to provide by a court or by government regulation and (d) information that can be reverse engineered after the product is available to the public.
SILENCED NO MORE ACT
The California Senate has passed SB 331 (referred to as the Silenced No More Act). If it passes the Assembly, it will continue to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature. The bill “will prevent workers from being forced to sign nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements that would limit their ability to speak out about harassment and discrimination in the workplace.” scaled down version over a few weekends in September, Marquez said. The Fair Food Experience will include famous concessionaires from previous fairs, he said. It will be a “swan song to the season in which the fair played for nearly 100 years,” organizers wrote in a statement.
The fair in May 2022 will mark the 100th anniversary of the first L.A. County Fair held in 1922 and will reflect the theme “Back to Our Roots.” It will include notes of nostalgia from the early days of tent expositions to remembering inventions such as the Frisbee and the home of the future, explained fair organizers.