Trump-Era NLRB Precedent for Severance Deals on Chopping Block

The National Labor Relations Board’s legal division has asked the board to overturn a Trump-era precedent that permits employers to include gag orders, waivers of the right to sue, and other contractual conditions in severance agreements.

The NLRB should strike down its 2020 ruling in Baylor University Medical Center and find that a Michigan hospital violated labor law by having workers sign separation deals containing confidentiality and non-disclosure provisions, a lawyer from the agency’s Detroit office argued in a brief made public Monday.

The severance agreements required workers to release their rights under the National Labor Relations Act without limitation, ...