Clients Featured in New York Times Piece on Bryan Johnson
NYT piece discusses how confidentiality rules restrict protected speech.
Kirsten Grind wrote a piece at the New York Times titled “How Bryan Johnson, Who Wants to Live Forever, Sought Control via Confidentiality Agreements.” The Times also released an accompanying video.
The piece discusses the confidentiality rules Johnson imposed on his employees. I have filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for three of Johnson’s former employees alleging that these and other rules imposed by Johnson violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). I’ve also advised these and other of Johnson’s former employees that, regardless of what their agreements say, they have a right to collectively publicize their working conditions, including by speaking to newspaper reporters.
From the piece:
At least three of Mr. Johnson’s former employees — including a former fiancée who worked for him — have recently filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board, a federal watchdog agency, about his confidentiality agreements. They said the terms they signed were “overbroad” and accused Mr. Johnson of violating federal laws that protect workers who want to speak about their workplace conditions, according to copies of two of the complaints and six people with knowledge of them.
…
Mr. Johnson’s goal was “to use these contractual agreements to keep everyone quiet,” and that effort “kind of was a house of cards,” said Matt Bruenig, the lawyer for the former employees who filed the N.L.R.B complaints.
Jamie Contento, who was Mr. Johnson’s personal assistant and who filed one of the N.L.R.B. complaints, said she “definitely felt coerced into signing the agreements” because she thought she would lose her job if she did not do so.
By participating in this Times story, Johnson’s former employees hope to ensure that current and prospective employees are aware of Johnson’s approach to managing workers, that Johnson will change the way he treats his workers in the future, and that lawmakers will take notice and pass laws that crack down on employers that use confidentiality, non-disparagement, and mandatory arbitration rules in their dealings with workers.
Read the full piece here.