A federal court permitted a company to bring claims of non-disparagement and defamation against a former employee after he authored a book on workplace bullying—even though the book didn’t name the employer.
For more than 30 years, Matthew Paknis operated a consulting business focused on management and leadership training. In 2005, he began providing a seminar for managers at Toray Plastics, which he continued for a decade.
In 2016, Toray hired Paknis to work full time in its human resources department. Issues arose a few months later between Paknis and Toray management, and he was placed on administrative leave and eventually terminated in September 2017.
Paknis and Toray participated in mediation to resolve any potential claims arising from his termination. Toray learned that Paknis had signed an agreement to write and publish a book titled Successful Leaders Aren’t Bullies.
The parties executed a settlement agreement releasing each from liability that included a non-disparagement clause specifically addressing the book, with a provision that Paknis would pay Toray $55,000 for each violation of the non-disparagement clause.
Paknis’ book went on sale in September 2018. In it, he wrote about dysfunctional corporate cultures and environments, with examples of workplace bullying taken from his career as a consultant. According to Paknis, the examples represent compilations of his experience, with details from different companies blended together to remove identifiable...
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