Unhinged Manager Makes Servers Sign Ridiculous NDA That Bars Them From Gossiping For 25 Years

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Oct 26, 2022 2:00 PM EDT

Does this horrible boss seriously think this NDA is enforceable? We think not. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit by u/throawayeas989, who opened up about the absolutely crazy non-disclosure agreement they received from their boss stating no employee can talk about anyone or anything related to the business for the next quarter of a century.

 

Does this person think they're running a restaurant or a high-stakes military operation? Not only is the 25 years portion of the NDA ridiculous, but also the whole contract consists of poorly defined terminology that will likely make it impossible to enforce. Some of the Redditors in the comments section got into a heated debate about what was the right advice for the original poster (the UK lawyer who advised to sign the document and forget about it is insane…). Our hot take is to stall signing the document and start looking for new jobs immediately. This manager is clearly either crazy or crazy paranoid. 

 

Keep scrolling for the full story! For similar stories, take a look at this post about another abusive restaurant owner.

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  • 01
    Font - My boss is making us sign an NDA that states we cannot speak about what we see or hear at work to anyone outside of our business for 25 years. We also are told we cannot talk about our coworkers outside of work for 25 years, and we cannot speak about the business at all. Is this normal? I'm 24,and work as a server in a small restaurant with about 10-12 employees. I've been here for two years, while I've been attending university as well.
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 02
    Font - In the past,our chef has had to sign an NDA stating that she wouldn't reveal any of our recipes or vendors. That wasn't unusual to me, and I'm pretty sure it's quite common within the restaurant business. However, we switched owners about 4 months ago, and they are telling us to sign an NDA that states we cannot speak about anything that happens at our job outside of it. I inquired more, and my boss said that we cannot speak about the business outside of work, and that we shouldn't have b
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 03
    Font - She also used an example of a story a coworker had shared this morning, about an ex-coworker who had just been arrested. She is friend's with our old co- workers family, and didn't think twice about sharing it. Anyways,my boss said that would be illegal under our NDA. Basically, we can't talk about anything at work, or each other(past & present!) for 25 years. We have to sign it, or we will be fired. Is this..normal? My coworker is planning on calling the labor board tonight.
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 04
    Font - Sweaty-Willingness27 23 hr. ago. edited 11 hr. ago EDIT: The below statement is related to non-disclosure agreements, which are the agreements I'm aware of. The OP may instead refer to a non- disparagement agreement, which is (apparently) an actual thing and is likely enforceable, to a degree. Is it worth it to sue a server, however? Most likely not at all. It does look like there are some "tips" on how to draft these, which include things like specifying definitions and damages. So if it
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 05
    Font - *The following applies to a non- disclosure agreement, not a non- disparaging agreement* An NDA would only be applicable to things that would cause damage to a business based on information that would reveal things like trade secrets or proprietary information. No judge is going to honor an NDA that says you can't say you're mad at your work. Also 25 years is MUCH too long, regardless. If you can, submit a complaint to the labor board, don't sign the NDA, and find a new job. If you get fi
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 06
    Font - propagandavid. 21 hr. ago Exactly. If you tell your friends you're pissed at your boss, and she takes you to court for violating the terms of the NDA, the first question will be "what material harm has this violation caused?" And the answer will almost undoubtedly be no harm at all. Civil law exists to make an aggrieved party whole again. Gossiping about which server is hooking up with which line cook doesn't cause any actual harm to the business owner, so at best a potential law suit goe
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 07
    Font - Appropriate Prune438 18 hr. ago Anarcho-Syndicalist I think the idea that a server in a small restaurant needs to sign an NDA would get this laughed out of court. I'm not a lawyer, but there's no way this is worth the court's time. 249 Reply Share
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 08
    Font - IxI_DUCK_IXI. 21 hr. ago Curious. Let's play devils advocate here, but you're right this isn't enforceable based on what OP is describing. Would the clientele that frequent the restaurant be terms for an NDA such as this? For example, if you were a chef/server in the white house you'd probably be bound by an NDA. Not saying this is OPs case, just trying to find where the legality for this would apply and be appropriate. Possible you can patent recipes? But not sure you could file an NDA t
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 09
    Font - sethbr 20 hr. ago An NDA protecting recipes, supplier lists, and such is legitimate. One saying I can't tell people that a coworker just got married is ridiculous. 105 Reply Share
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 10
    Font - scoopbins 23 hr. ago Likely totally unenforceable. Reply Share 1.2k throwawayeas989 OP- 23 hr. ago That's what I thought. 315 Reply Share
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 11
    Font - Curious_Payment_9932 21 hr. ago Go ahead and let them fire you ...he k, ALL of you! Go collect unemployment while seeking a better job. There is something fishy going on. 227 Reply Share
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 12
    Font - scoopbins 20 hr. ago Im a lawyer in the U.K. - nda is intended to protect business information /business plans etc not the type of stuff described. It's totally unenforceable - just sign it and ignore it. It's not worth the paper it's written on. Also 25 years is a joke - a legitimate nda designed to protect company confidential information (turnover / designs/ business plans etc) would have a much shorter limit. The employer is clearly nuts. Any attempt to fire you for "breach" of such a
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 13
    Font - WallabyInTraining - 20 hr. ago Im a lawyer in the U.K. (...) just sign it and ignore it. Worst. Legal advice. Ever. Reply Share 23
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 14
    Font - GumpTheChump - 20 hr. ago If you're already employed, there's a real issue as to whether there has been any consideration given to you in exchange for the NDA, which affects enforceability
    via u/throwawayeas989
  • 15
    Font - DertyCajun 20 hr. ago Most of those agreements have to be considered reasonable to be enforced. 25 years is going to invalidate that agreement. That isn't a reasonable timeframe. Plus, the company would have to show damages and that's going to be pretty hard on gossip.
    via u/throwawayeas989

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antiwork manager server work contract Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit
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