Washington employers are already prohibited from using employment agreements that restrict workers from disclosing claims of workplace sexual assault and sexual harassment – but will soon be unable to use nondisclosure agreements encompassing nearly all common employment claims and all employment agreements, including settlements. Governor Inslee signed Washington's Silenced No More Act into law in March 24, replacing a 2018 law that only covered claims related to the #MeToo movement. Effective June 9, Washington employers will be subject to a sweeping new law more closely following California’s similar law, causing most businesses to take immediate action to come into compliance.
Our Memories
The 2018 version of Washington’s law prohibited workplace non-disclosure agreements (NDA) that would stop employees from sharing factual details of sexual harassment or sexual assault that occurred at or about work. While it was retroactive, the old law did not apply to settlement agreements. And it made largely symbolic updates to pre-existing anti-retaliation statutes.
This Could be the End
The new Act expands the scope of prohibited NDAs to encompass cases beyond sexual assault and sexual harassment and to all employer-employee agreements, including settlements. Specifically, it prohibits any clause between an employer and employee:
not to disclose or discuss conduct, or the existence of a settlement involving conduct, that the employee reasonably believed under Washington state,...
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