[Foundation-l] Future board meeting (5-7 april 08)

[Nathan]

I'm guessing there aren't too many folks familiar with United States
employment
law among the folks debating and speculating on this list. I submit that
this is
probably not the sort of thing we want determined by a consensus of
amateurs.
Lots of people don't like ND agreements, but they don't like binding
arbitration,
non-compete and non-disclosure agreements either. Even so, they are fairly
common and effective. As a matter of fact, I think than an ND for the Board
is somewhat less unusual than an ND for employees.

Perhaps the wording of this particular agreement is hasty or inelegant -
Board members not at all familiar with American law might reasonably
be advised to get independent legal advice before signing binding
agreements.
(No disparagement [heh] of Mike intended, but he represents WMF and not the
Board members individually). Elements of signed agreements like this are
somewhat
routinely dismissed in court (fairly strict rules on non-compete agreements,
limits
on the scope of non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements, etc.), but
its
still a good idea to know what your rights are and how agreements like this
are
commonly used in corporations in the US.

Nathan