DocDraft Logo

Louisiana Employee and Severance NDA

Draft a Louisiana employee or severance NDA under La. R.S. 9:2717.3, which makes a pre-dispute required NDA over harassment unenforceable in court.

Introduction

An employee NDA is a confidentiality agreement between a company and a worker that protects the employer's trade secrets and confidential business information. A severance NDA is the version signed at separation, usually inside a release agreement, and it often keeps the terms of the exit private. What separates it from a commercial NDA between two businesses is who signs it: a worker cannot be forced to stay silent about unlawful conduct. In Louisiana, La. R.S. 9:2717.3, enacted in 2024, provides that no nondisclosure clause an employer requires and the worker agrees to before a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute is judicially enforceable as to that dispute. Timing is the point: it targets the pre-dispute clause and covers those disputes specifically, not general discrimination. DocDraft drafts a Louisiana-compliant employee or severance NDA from your facts, with that carve-out built in, and attorney review is available before anyone signs.

0/5000

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    Louisiana's limit comes from La. R.S. 9:2717.3 (Act No. 781 of 2024). A nondisclosure clause an employer requires and the worker agrees to before a dispute is not judicially enforceable as to that dispute.

  2. 2

    Timing is what matters. The law targets a pre-dispute, employer-required NDA, the confidentiality term signed at or during hire before any hostile work environment or harassment dispute has arisen.

  3. 3

    The scope is hostile work environment and sexual harassment. Louisiana's statute covers those disputes specifically. It does not, by its terms, void an NDA that touches general discrimination.

  4. 4

    The remedy is unenforceability in court. Rather than voiding the whole agreement, the law makes the covered pre-dispute clause unenforceable by a court to the extent it would gag the worker about that dispute.

  5. 5

    A post-dispute confidential settlement is still allowed. Once a dispute has occurred or been reported, the parties may agree to keep a settlement confidential, because that confidentiality is negotiated rather than imposed in advance.

  6. 6

    It is a 2024 law. The restriction took effect August 1, 2024, so agreements drafted before then may not account for it and should be reviewed against the current rule.

  7. 7

    Trade secrets stay protectable, on the federal floor. Louisiana still lets an NDA protect legitimate confidential information, and the Speak Out Act, agency-reporting rights, and the Defend Trade Secrets Act notice apply on top.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Employee and Severance NDA in Louisiana, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Employee and Severance NDA guide walks through them.

Open the Employee and Severance NDA guide

Customize your Employee and Severance NDA Template with DocDraft

LOUISIANA EMPLOYEE NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT

This Employee Non-Disclosure Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into as of [DATE] by and between [COMPANY NAME] ("Company") and [EMPLOYEE NAME] ("Employee"). This Agreement is governed by Louisiana law.

  1. PURPOSE In the course of Employee's employment, Employee will have access to confidential and proprietary information of the Company. Employee agrees to protect that information on the terms below.

  2. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION "Confidential Information" means non-public information the Company treats as confidential, including trade secrets, business and financial data, customer and pricing lists, methods, processes, software, and other proprietary information. Confidential Information does not include information that is or becomes public through no fault of Employee, that Employee lawfully knew before employment, or that is independently developed without use of the Company's information.

  3. OBLIGATIONS Employee agrees to use Confidential Information solely for the benefit of the Company, to not disclose it without authorization, and to return or destroy all Confidential Information on request or at the end of employment.

  4. PROTECTED DISCLOSURES (LOUISIANA, LA. REV. STAT. 9:2717.3) Nothing in this Agreement prevents Employee from disclosing or discussing a hostile work environment dispute or a sexual harassment dispute. Consistent with La. Rev. Stat. 9:2717.3, no nondisclosure clause required by the Company and agreed to before such a dispute is judicially enforceable as to that dispute. If a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute has occurred or been reported, the Company and Employee may still agree to resolve it through a confidential settlement.

  5. DEFEND TRADE SECRETS ACT NOTICE Under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1833(b)), an individual is immune from criminal or civil liability for disclosing a trade secret (i) in confidence to a government official or attorney solely to report or investigate a suspected violation of law, or (ii) in a complaint or other document filed under seal in a lawsuit or other proceeding.

  6. NO OTHER RESTRICTIONS ON RIGHTS Consistent with the federal Speak Out Act, this Agreement does not restrict Employee from speaking about a dispute involving sexual assault or sexual harassment. This Agreement does not waive Employee's right to file a charge with, testify before, or participate in an investigation by the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, or the Securities and Exchange Commission, and does not require Employee to notify the Company before doing so.

  7. TERM AND ENFORCEMENT Employee's obligations as to Confidential Information continue for as long as the information remains confidential. The Company may seek injunctive relief and any other remedy available at law for a breach, subject to the protected disclosures above.

  8. GENERAL This Agreement is governed by Louisiana law. If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect. This Agreement is the entire understanding between the parties on this subject.

[COMPANY NAME] By: [SIGNATURE] Name/Title: [NAME AND TITLE] Date: [DATE]

EMPLOYEE [SIGNATURE] Name: [EMPLOYEE NAME] Date: [DATE]

Louisiana Requirements for Employee and Severance NDA

Louisiana La. R.S. 9:2717.3

Draft a Louisiana employee or severance NDA under La. R.S. 9:2717.3, which makes a pre-dispute required NDA over harassment unenforceable in court.

Frequently Asked Questions

An employee NDA is a contract in which a worker agrees to keep the employer's confidential information private, such as trade secrets, client lists, and internal processes. A severance NDA is the version signed at separation, usually inside a release agreement in exchange for severance pay, and it often also keeps the departure terms confidential. In Louisiana, La. R.S. 9:2717.3 limits an employer-required NDA when it would gag a worker about a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute.

It provides that no nondisclosure clause required by an employer and agreed to prior to a hostile work environment dispute or sexual harassment dispute shall be judicially enforceable. In plain terms, if an employer makes a worker sign a confidentiality clause before any such dispute arises, a court will not enforce that clause to silence the worker about that dispute. The statute was enacted by Act No. 781 of 2024.

Because the statute turns on whether the dispute existed when the worker agreed to confidentiality. A clause required and signed before a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute is not judicially enforceable as to that dispute. A confidential settlement reached after the dispute has occurred or been reported is treated differently, since at that point confidentiality is a negotiated resolution rather than a condition imposed in advance.

By its terms, La. R.S. 9:2717.3 covers a hostile work environment dispute or a sexual harassment dispute. It does not reach general discrimination the way broader state laws do. Even so, federal law and the reporting rights a worker cannot waive still apply, so a Louisiana NDA should never try to block a worker from reporting any unlawful conduct to a government agency.

An employer can require an NDA to protect legitimate confidential information, but under La. R.S. 9:2717.3 a court will not enforce a required pre-dispute clause that would silence the worker about a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute. A compliant onboarding NDA protects trade secrets while leaving that disclosure right open, and reviewing it with an attorney before signing is an option DocDraft makes available.

Yes. Louisiana's restriction targets a nondisclosure clause required before the dispute arose. Once a hostile work environment or sexual harassment dispute has occurred or been reported, the parties can agree to a confidential settlement, because that confidentiality is negotiated as part of resolving the dispute rather than imposed as a condition of employment up front.

Yes. La. R.S. 9:2717.3 limits an employer-required pre-dispute clause over harassment, not the protection of legitimate confidential business information. A Louisiana employee or severance NDA can still protect trade secrets, client and pricing data, and other proprietary information, and it should include the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act immunity notice like any well-drafted agreement.