Washington State’s “Silenced No More Act”—one of the nation’s strictest prohibitions against nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements—went into effect on June 9, 2022. The Act replaces an earlier 2018 law and expands the definition of “employee,” broadens the types of agreements subject to restrictions, limits exceptions, and provides greater penalties for violations.

Under the Act, any agreement between an employer and employee “not to disclose or discuss conduct, that the employee reasonably believed under Washington state, federal, or common law to be illegal discrimination, illegal harassment, illegal retaliation, a wage and hour violation, or sexual assault, or that is recognized as against a clear mandate of public policy” is void and unenforceable. Employers may not request or require an employee to enter into any such agreement. Employers also may not attempt to enforce a provision of an agreement prohibited by the Act, whether through a lawsuit or a threat to enforce.

The Act’s protections reach broadly. The Act applies to current, former, and prospective employees, as well as independent contractors.

The Act covers conduct that occurs at the workplace, at work-related events coordinated by or through the employer, between employees, or between an employer and an employee, whether on or off the employment premises.

The claims or complaints that are protected by the Act are more varied than those by similar laws in other states, such as Oregon. The Act is not...

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