{"id":15594,"date":"2019-03-05T02:22:59","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T02:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=15594"},"modified":"2019-03-06T09:48:38","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T09:48:38","slug":"metoo-whistleblowing-is-upending-century-old-legal-precedent-demanding-loyalty-to-the-boss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/metoo-whistleblowing-is-upending-century-old-legal-precedent-demanding-loyalty-to-the-boss\/","title":{"rendered":"#MeToo whistleblowing is upending century-old legal precedent demanding loyalty to the boss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elizabeth C. Tippett<\/a>, University of Oregon<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

When was the last time you agreed to keep a secret?<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was a personal confidence shared by a close family member or friend. Or it might have been in a contract with your employer to safeguard confidential information. Either way, you probably felt a strong sense of obligation to keep that secret.<\/p>\n

At least when it comes to the workplace, that\u2019s no accident. In the United States, the idea that workers owe their employers<\/a> a duty of loyalty goes back more than 100 years<\/a>. It is deeply ingrained in legal rules and American culture.<\/p>\n

But it has been fraying<\/a>, most recently in the form of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen\u2019s damning congressional testimony against the president.<\/p>\n

This trend was also on full display when the #MeToo movement went viral in 2017. #MeToo was, of course, about sexual harassment and assault. But it was also a form of mass whistleblowing<\/a>. The movement signaled victims\u2019 willingness \u2013 at an unprecedented scale \u2013 to defy promises of secrecy to their employers in service of a larger truth by revealing their experiences of workplace harassment.<\/p>\n

While researching a book on the duty of loyalty, I realized that the #MeToo movement isn\u2019t merely a rift in the ordinary order of workplace relationships in the United States. It is part a larger legal and cultural shift that has been in the works for decades.<\/p>\n

Employee fealty<\/h2>\n

The duty of loyalty<\/a> is the idea that you \u201ccannot bite the hand that feeds you and insist on staying for future banquets,\u201d as an American labor arbitrator wrote in 1972.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bedrock principle<\/a> that courts apply to employment disputes, even if you didn\u2019t sign a contract promising to keep an employer\u2019s secrets.<\/p>\n

The duty of loyalty is why employers can demand that you sign a confidentiality agreement at the start of employment. It\u2019s why workers can\u2019t download their employer\u2019s trade secrets on a thumb drive and use it in their new job. And why companies are able to persuade judges to enforce noncompete agreements.<\/p>\n