Under the clause, there’s a specific window of time during which employees can give notice.
Multiple employment lawyers said the damages clause wouldn’t turn up in most employment contracts.
“They are pretty rare—for ordinary workers at least,” said Peter Romer-Friedman, an attorney at Outten & Golden LLP, a labor law firm.
The clause serves to protect companies from costs associated with replacing an anchor who suddenly leaves, for example.
Yet at Sinclair, at least some employees who never appeared on television were still required to sign such contracts, the former employees said.
While lawsuits against broadcast news employees who jump to rivals aren’t unusual, litigation against those who start another career are.
“The critics are now upset,” Scott Livingston, vice president of news at Sinclair, wrote in a memo to employees Monday provided to Bloomberg. »
