On November 17, 2023, New York Governor Hochul signed a bill into law making significant changes to New York’s law on nondisclosure agreements. The amendments went into effect immediately and apply to agreements entered into on or after the effective date. There are three key changes that further restrict the use of NDA provisions in certain employment settlement agreements. On the whole, these changes are good for New York employees who have experienced harassment, discrimination, or retaliation in the workplace.
New York’s Non-Disclosure Agreement Laws
First, to provide some background on New York’s Non-Disclosure law: in 2018, in the midst of the #MeToo movement, the New York legislature passed into law budget bill S. 7507–C, which provided for the addition of an entirely new section into the New York General Obligations Law, Section 5-336. Section 5-366, one of the original #MeToo statutes, was intended to limit the use of confidentiality agreements that prevent victims of sexual harassment from disclosing the harassing conduct in a way that might prevent future harassment.
Originally, Section 5-336 provided that no employer could include a non-disclosure condition in a “settlement, agreement or other resolution of any claim” involving sexual harassment, unless the “condition of confidentiality is the complainant’s preference” and the complainant was provided twenty-one days to consider the condition plus seven days to revoke the agreement after signing it. In other...
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