"It's just standard business in the tech world," Cnet spokeswoman Blaise Simpson told me. "That's part of our standard agreement when they become an employee here," Simpson said. "The First Amendment does not prevent private parties from voluntarily entering into a contract to keep information confidential."
She added, "In a situation like this, it's not to anyone's benefit to disparage anyone."
Yes, but I thought the truth would set one free.
If I live 20 more years, Yahoo! would be paying me about 50 cents per day for that free speech. If I lived 40 more years, it would be less than 30 cents per day.
Bennett Hall of the Corvallis Gazette Times wrote about HP's 2005 layoff of 570 employees.
Most of the five-page document is boilerplate stuff — standard promises not to give away company secrets, take home office equipment or make copies of confidential customer lists.
But right smack in the middle of the 17 numbered paragraphs comes Article 9, which begins: “Employee agrees that he/she will not make or publish, either orally or in writing, any disparaging statement regarding HP.”
In the article, the possibility that whistleblowers might be afraid to report a former employer's misdeeds after signing such a clause was considered. The agreements are legal because you are allowing an organization to compensate you for your silence. You're losing your job. Can you afford to turn away from money?
“Most people are not in a financial position to walk away from it,” Hall noted, “so it’s not as freely entered into as one would like.”
Hall spoke with social ethicist Courtney Campbell who commented, “Even though it has legal standing, it’s really a form of moral blackmail,” said Campbell, who chairs the philosophy department at Oregon State University. “It’s a form of intimidation of the employee to keep silent, to place a muzzle on them, which I think is contrary to the values of a free society.”
Having been through two major injuries in the last five years, I cannot actually afford to give up that money; however, I also think I cannot lie.
After speaking with a person at Industrial Relations, I was encouraged to go to Fair Employment and consult a lawyer because there were several "red flags." Yahoo!'s actions astounded or confounded insurance adjusters and my own doctor. One of the first questions I was asked during my Fair Employment interview was had I signed the severance agreement.
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