The State of Maine has made some changes regarding employee rights concerning discrimination and equal employment opportunities. Effective August 8, 2022, Employers are prohibited from using agreements or contracts that limits the right of interns, employees or applicants to discuss unlawful workplace discrimination at work related events or in the workplace itself.
In addition, the new law prevents any form of end of employment agreements from containing provisions that limit the right of the former employee to report, testify, or otherwise give information to any state or federal agency that investigates discrimination, to testify in any court proceeding, or to make a report to any law enforcement agency.
The ability to include provisions preventing later disclosure of facts related to unlawful employment discrimination in a severance agreement has also been significantly restricted. The new law does not affect the use of non-disclosure agreements for the protection of proprietary information and trade secrets.