Will my employees’ non-disclosure agreements hold up in court?

On Behalf of | Aug 28, 2018 | Business Contracts and Leases

There have been a lot of stories about nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in the news lately due to the Trump administration’s propensity to require all employees to sign them as a condition of being hired.

At present, it’s anyone’s guess whether the NDAs that the president had former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman sign will stand up to legal challenges. The Trump campaign filed for arbitration earlier this week against Manigault Newman for her alleged violations of the NDA that the campaign had her sign.

Regardless of the adjudication of that high-profile case, Cincinnati small business owners may be concerned that their own NDAs could fail to survive if challenged by ex-employees. In order to be enforceable, an NDA must contain certain critical elements, including:

  • Defined “confidential information” as described in the NDA deals
  • Any exclusions from this confidential information
  • Duties and obligations of the parties who receive this confidential information
  • Specific time frames under which the NDAs are enforced and valid
  • Other miscellaneous provisions

If these specifications are not met, it’s possible that during arbitration or litigation, the agreement could get tossed out.

No business owner wants to see a former employee stroll away with the rights to proprietary information or the freedom to badmouth the boss or the company. That’s why it is so vital that any NDAs that employees sign are well-constructed and legally viable.

Savvy Cincinnati business owners know that the best way to ensure that their contracts are airtight is to have them drafted by an attorney who is well-versed in the intricacies of business and contract law.