The Wall Street Journal interviews Phillips & Cohen partner Erika Kelton about the ways in which companies may seek to muzzle whistleblowers.
Companies sometimes seek to pursue legal action against whistleblowers by claiming that they have violated nondisclosure agreements. Under such agreements, employees typically agree that they will return or destroy company documents within a short period after leaving the company and won’t share confidential business information with people outside the company, said Erika Kelton, a partner at Washington, D.C.-based Phillips & Cohen, which represents whistleblowers.
Attorneys said companies can sue former employees who violate NDAs for breach of contract and try to force them to return any severance money, forfeit any stock options they received or pay other damages.
Read the entire article, “The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen: Does the Law Protect Her?” on The Wall Street Journal’s website.