McLaren Macomb
372 NLRB No. 58 (2023)
National Labor Relations Board · February 21, 2023
What the court decided
A severance agreement whose confidentiality and non-disparagement terms would tend to restrain employees from exercising their rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act is unlawful, and the employer violates the Act by merely offering it — whether or not the employee signs and whether or not the employer ever enforces it. The Board overruled its two contrary 2020 decisions.
Who won
The employees won. The Board found the proffer itself unlawful and restored the pre-2020 standard.
Why it matters for salespeople
Two limits matter. First, the Act protects "employees," so supervisors and managers are outside it — which is why executive severance agreements routinely carry terms that would be unlawful lower down. Second, this decision is under active attack: the General Counsel rescinded the guidance memorandum interpreting it in February 2025 and has asked the Board to overrule it, and the Board regained a quorum in January 2026. It is still the law today. It may not be for long.
Key passage: 372 NLRB No. 58 (2023) at 7-9.
Read the decision (PDF) Marked with official reporter pages for citation.
Source of the text: National Labor Relations Board (official slip opinion) — https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45839af64d. This page summarizes the decision in plain language; the court’s own words are in the PDF above.