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A comment on Former employee sues startup for financials in order to value granted stock. Parent comment

Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by potatolicious on Friday August 19, 2016 @02:33PM (#12322300)
Without knowledge of the law in this specific case, it still feels like there are reasonable grounds that a private, not-publicly-traded company should be allowed to keep its financials private.

Though of course, any such NDA should be revealed ahead of time, including the precise language of the NDA, so that investors (and yes, employees who receive equity in lieu of cash are investors) make a fully informed decision.

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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by nradov on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:14PM (#12323505)
Sure they can keep their financials private by requiring a signed NDA before distributing shares. But if they're asking for an NDA after granting shares then it's too late. What incentive would the shareholder have to sign away certain rights in order to gain access to financial records to which he is already entitled? In order for an agreement to be valid and legally enforceable it generally has to provide some specific benefit to both sides.
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by jessaustin on Friday August 19, 2016 @03:07PM (#12322641)
...any such NDA should be revealed ahead of time, including the precise language of the NDA...

Is this a common thing with NDAs? ISTM it's rare that during the hiring process one would receive a folder containing all the NDAs one might potentially be asked to sign while working at a firm. One might receive an "initial" NDA, to sign before starting, but every time there is an ownership change one can expect a new round of NDAs, because apparently NDA terms are a rapidly-evolving area of contract law.

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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by toast0 on Saturday August 20, 2016 @12:01AM (#12325135)
Requiring a new NDA as a condition (but not prom is) of continued employment is one thing; requiring it as a condition of exercising a statutory right is another.
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by bpicolo on Friday August 19, 2016 @03:27PM (#12322801)
Pretty hard for him to convince anybody to buy said shares if they can't in any way see those financials.
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by adrr on Friday August 19, 2016 @03:46PM (#12322942)
They can buy 1 share or he could give them 1 share.
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by bpicolo on Friday August 19, 2016 @03:59PM (#12323030)
That's true, sure seems like it shouldn't be necessary though huh?
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by zwily on Friday August 19, 2016 @04:52PM (#12323379)
He may not be able to sell or transfer any shares.
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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by revelation on Friday August 19, 2016 @04:29PM (#12323220)
Why? It's a company, why should company fundamentals be protected?

What's going on in this world where your phone call is recorded, yet people sheepishly suggest "oh maybe a NDA is okay here, ya know".

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Re:Former employee sues startup for financials in order to v... by toufka on Friday August 19, 2016 @03:09PM (#12322665)
The law seems to indicate otherwise.
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