New NLRB could sever from severance agreement precedents on gag clauses

On December 28, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s two nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as well as his NLRB general counsel (GC) pick, restoring a quorum with a 2-to-1 Republican-to-Democrat balance on the five-member NLRB, with the remaining two board spots vacant. Now that the NLRB can get to work for the first time since January 2025, and with a Republican majority for the first time since 2021, is it just a matter of time before employee-friendly precedents from the Biden era, such as the one against gag clauses in severance agreements, find themselves on the chopping block? A recent decision may provide the first vehicle to test how swiftly this new NLRB will act to dismantle these precedents.

Valley Radiology and the McLaren Macomb precedent

The NLRB recently decided Valley Radiology, P.A. (March 2026), ruling that a North Carolina radiology practice’s severance agreement with a physician contained nondisparagement and confidentiality provisions in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The provisions employed broad but familiar language: