It was recently reported in the news that a gentleman in Miami, Florida who received an $80,000 settlement from his former employer in resolution of an age discrimination claim has now lost those monies after his daughter bragged about the settlement on Facebook. Apparently, the settlement agreement included a confidentiality clause which was breached by the father telling his daughter about the settlement and by her then posting about it on Facebook, which publicized the information to her many “friends” who were affiliated with her father’s former employer. At the end of the day, although we recognize that a confidentiality clause often has limited teeth as the chances of recovering the money are slim even if the clause is breached, this situation provides some optimism for the benefits and effectiveness of confidentiality clauses. However, one thing to keep in mind is that the breach occurred just days after the settlement agreement was signed.
