An old colleague's company has gone through a round of lay-offs.
As part of the severance agreement, they have been asked to sign a non-disparagement clause.
I know that non-disparagement is broader than libel and any negative comments, even if "true", are covered.
However, during these layoffs, a number of people found out that they had lost their jobs when they received administrative notification that they had been removed from some tool or other.
Is an unvarnished description of that happening considered disparagement? More generally, if a company does something overtly crappy and you simply state what they did without comment, are you disparaging them?
This is not a request for advice on what actions to take. I'm more interested to know if there are any established precedents as to the scope of non-disparagement clauses. Readers can then draw their own conclusions (ideally with the help of a professional).
legal
tag. – Dancrumb Jan 9 '20 at 15:18