Navigating the Minefield of New State Laws on Severance Nondisclosure Provisions

One of the after-effects of the #MeToo movement was a rush by state legislatures to clamp down on confidentiality provisions in sexual harassment settlements. The policy objectives made sense: if an employer or harasser could buy a victim’s silence, the perpetrator – particularly one with deep pockets – could easily engage in the same conduct all over again. As a result, various states began adopting measures designed to negate an employer’s ability to gag an employee from discussing a harassment claim. Among these states are California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.