New Mexico Employee and Severance NDA
Draft a New Mexico employee or severance NDA under Section 50-4-36, which voids confidentiality in settlements over harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
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 New Mexico, Section 50-4-36 makes a confidentiality provision in a settlement agreement that resolves a claim of sexual harassment, discrimination, or retaliation void and unenforceable as a matter of law. The reach is specific to settlement and severance releases. Only the settlement dollar amount, and identifying facts the employee asks to keep private, may stay confidential. DocDraft drafts a New Mexico employee or severance NDA from your facts, with those protected-disclosure carve-outs built in, and attorney review is available before anyone signs.
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Key Things to Know
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Section 50-4-36 targets settlements. It voids a confidentiality provision in a settlement or severance release that resolves a claim of sexual harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.
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The settlement amount can stay private. New Mexico lets the parties keep the dollar figure of the settlement confidential even when the facts of the underlying claim cannot be hidden.
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Identity confidentiality is the employee's call. Facts that would identify the worker can be kept confidential only if the employee requests it, not because the employer prefers it.
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The restriction lives in the release. New Mexico's rule is aimed at settlement and severance agreements that resolve a covered claim, which is where a departing worker most often faces a confidentiality demand.
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No specific carve-out wording is mandated. Section 50-4-36 voids the offending confidentiality term outright rather than requiring a set sentence, but a clear written carve-out keeps the rest of the agreement clean.
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Trade secrets stay protectable. The law limits confidentiality over harassment and discrimination facts, not the protection of legitimate trade secrets and confidential business information.
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The federal floor still applies. The Speak Out Act, the Defend Trade Secrets Act immunity notice, and non-waivable EEOC, NLRB, and SEC reporting rights all apply on top of New Mexico law.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Employee and Severance NDA in New Mexico, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Employee and Severance NDA guide walks through them.
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New Mexico Requirements for Employee and Severance NDA
New Mexico Section 50-4-36
Draft a New Mexico employee or severance NDA under Section 50-4-36, which voids confidentiality in settlements over harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.