Failing to abide by confidentiality provisions in a settlement agreement can cost you your settlement payment

▤ Summary

The recent decision of an arbitrator in the matter between Acadia University and Acadia University Faculty Association (Re Dr. Rick Mehta), 2019 CarswellOnt 8518 (Lab Arb) [“Acadia”] emphasizes the importance of abiding by a confidentiality provision in a settlement agreement. In the spring of 2018 Dr. Mehta was terminated by Acadia University for, among other things, allegedly harassing students and other faculty members. The Acadia University Faculty Association (“AUFA”) filed a grievance on behalf of Mehta and in April 2019 the matter came before a voluntary mediation session. Despite this provision, Mehta was quick to take to social media and make comments such as “I got the vindication I was seeking,” “I have left the university on my term[s] as opposed to the administration’s or union’s terms” and, in response to one of Dr. Mehta’s Twitter followers’ comments “Hope you got a nice sum monz,” Mehta’s reply that “All I will say is that I left with a big grin on my face.” As a result of Mehta’s alleged breach of the confidentiality provision in the Minutes, the matter went to arbitration. The privilege also generally extends to settlement agreements themselves (see, for example, Sable Offshore Energy Inc v Ameron International Corp, 2013 SCC 37 at paras 17-18).

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First Reference

$1M to $5M