I think MD in closer to the truth...why...
NDA’s and NCC’s are signed at the beginning of a contract. They are not asked for upon someone’s firing. No one would sign either if they have just been terminated.
About the contract itself. If it has non-disparagement clauses and general, or sexual, harassment clauses then it is still enforceable.
I’d take no Non-Compete or Non-Disclosure with a grain of salt in this case.
Now, for the validity of the non-compete I believe FOX will have a hard time with that. The era on non-compete’s seems to be running out.
My 2 cents...
There is lady named Jennifer Sey that worked for Levi’s as the brand manager, possibly next in line for CEO. She didn’t like the lockdowns and keeping kids out of school and went public about it. The Karens had enough and pushed her out the door. She was offered $1M to sign a NDA, but refused. She was a long time employee and worked her way up the ladder.
I do not know about the laws in NY or other states but here in PA and perhaps in some others, if you want an employee to sign a non-compete contract (and I think the same applies to NDA’s) you have to have them sign when their employment begins, otherwise if an employee is asked to sign one at a later date, it has to be in return for a promotion, pay raise, cash payment, new fringe benefit, job security commitment, or something else of sufficient value – a renumeration agreeable to both parties.
I worked for a manufacturing firm in PA and HR found that some employees, mostly higher-level engineers and outside sales personnel who had been hired many, many years ago, had never been asked to sign an NCC or NDA and we had no records of such.
In order request them to sign one “now” we had to pay them a one-time special bonus in consideration if they agreed to sign the agreements after the fact.
I have seen severance agreements that have NDA’s and Non-disparagement clauses attached to them but most commonly it contains a release from the terminated employee releasing the employer from all future claims against the company.
Again, here in PA if you didn’t have an employee sign an NDA or NCC at the time of hire, you can’t have them sign one after the fact without additional renumeration and if I read PA law correctly that would be expected to be over and above a severance where one is paid x number of weeks at their normal salary.
But as to severance agreements there is a 7-day revocation clause (14 days if over the age of 50). That gives the employee some time to reconsider the terms and conditions and revoke the agreement, especially if they believe their termination was wrongful, i.e. on the basis of discrimination, age discrimination or whistleblower protections. Of course, severances are not paid until after the end of the revocation period.
The era on non-compete’s seems to be running out.
I believe Sheppard Smith, who voluntarily quit Fox News had a non-compete agreement and was not able to take the job he currently has at CNBC until after the expiration of his NCC with Fox, I seem to recall it was a year.
But for most people outside of the entertainment industry and for those on the C-Suite level and highly compensated executives with a high level of knowledge as to the inner workings of and the finances of their former employer and having deep and detailed knowledge of trade secrets, many non-complete agreements are IMO unduly punitive, especially for lower wage and hourly workers.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/what-a-ban-on-non-compete-agreements-could-mean-for-american-workers
Imagine if you are an hourly worker at say Wal-Mart, making little more than minimum wage and want to take a better paying job with better benefits at say Target and not being allowed to because of a NCC you signed when you were hired and likely didn’t understand because Target is a competitor.
I have over 30 years of experience in PR and HR and in many different industries. In every job I’ve had I learned new skills and understandings of that industry when it comes to Payroll and HR. I’ve also brought skills I learned at previous employers that I brought with me to new employers.
Of course, I didn’t divulge to any new employer things such as inside detailed knowledge such as what my previous employer paid or knowledge of things such as previous employers benefit plans and policies but I certainly brought with me knowledge of how to arrive as such.
At one of my previous jobs, although I was mostly in charge of managing PR and the HRIS system administration I was tasked to talk over how to arrive at salary rates for existing or new job descriptions, learning how to write job descriptions, reviewing salary surveys for our industry and it was a fun project for me to work on and I learned a lot.
I would hate to be constrained by an NDA or NCC from utilizing my skills and knowledge with a new employer who may be offering me a better opportunity. Just my 2 cents.