Trey’s Law in Texas: Why Your Old NDAs May No Longer Be Enforceable

What Texas’s New Law Voids in Employment and Settlement Agreements, and What Still Stays Confidential

A new Texas law voids old and new confidentiality agreements that try to silence victims of sexual abuse, and it took effect September 1, 2025. Trey’s Law, Senate Bill 835, makes any nondisclosure or confidentiality provision unenforceable if it tries to stop someone from disclosing an act of sexual abuse, even in agreements signed years before the law existed. If your company has employment contracts or settlement agreements with broad confidentiality language, this law may have already changed what those clauses can legally do. Here’s what Trey’s Law actually covers, what it doesn’t touch, and what to do about agreements you’ve already signed.

What Trey’s Law Actually Does

Senate Bill 835, known as Trey’s Law, took effect September 1, 2025. It makes any nondisclosure or confidentiality provision, in an employment agreement, settlement agreement, or any other type of agreement, void and unenforceable to the extent it prohibits a person from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to that abuse. The law passed unanimously, 31 to 0 in the Texas Senate and 144 to 0 in the House, and it’s now codified as Chapter 129C of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

The Story Behind the Law

Trey’s Law is named for Trey Carlock, who died by suicide at age 28 after signing a nondisclosure agreement as part of a settlement with a summer camp where he’d been sexually abused as a child. His case became the reason Texas lawmakers targeted a specific, narrow problem: agreements that let organizations use confidentiality clauses to keep sexual abuse hidden. That narrow focus shows up in how the law is written. Knowing exactly what it covers, and what it leaves alone, matters before assuming it changes more than it does.

What Counts as “Sexual Abuse” Under This Law

Trey’s Law doesn’t use “sexual abuse” as a general term. It borrows a specific definition from the Texas Family Code and Penal Code, and only conduct that fits those definitions triggers the law’s protection. Covered conduct includes:

• Child abuse under the Texas Family Code, specifically the sexual abuse categories in Section 261.001.
• Sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault under the Texas Penal Code.
• Indecency with a child.
• Sexual performance by a child.
• Trafficking of persons, for the specific trafficking categories tied to sexual conduct.
• Compelling prostitution.

If a confidentiality provision tries to silence disclosure of any of these, it’s unenforceable, regardless of what the contract says.

Why This Is Retroactive, and the One Way Around It

Trey’s Law applies to agreements entered into before, on, or after its effective date, not just contracts signed going forward. That means an NDA someone signed in 2015 as part of a settlement is just as unenforceable, for purposes of silencing sexual abuse disclosure, as one signed this year.

There’s a narrow exception. A party can still try to enforce a pre-existing nondisclosure provision, but only by getting a declaratory judgment under Chapter 37 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, one that’s final and not subject to appeal, specifically declaring the agreement enforceable. In practice, that means going to court and winning, not simply asserting the old contract still applies. For most employers, that’s not a realistic or advisable route, and it isn’t the point of the law regardless.

How Trey’s Law Actually Gets Enforced

Trey’s Law isn’t a regulatory statute with an agency behind it. Unlike Texas’s new AI law, which the Texas Attorney General can enforce with civil penalties, Trey’s Law works by declaring certain contract language void as a matter of public policy. There’s no state agency that investigates violations and no civil fine schedule attached to it. In practice, it comes up when a dispute reaches a courtroom: if an employer tries to sue someone for breaching a confidentiality clause by disclosing sexual abuse, or tries to use that clause to block a disclosure, a Texas court should treat the clause as unenforceable and refuse to enforce it. The law protects the person who discloses; it doesn’t create a new claim for damages against the party that included the illegal language in the agreement.

What’s Still Allowed to Stay Confidential

Trey’s Law doesn’t ban confidentiality altogether. Parties can still agree to keep other parts of a settlement confidential, including the settlement amount and payment terms. The law also doesn’t touch an employer’s ability to protect trade secrets or proprietary business information through separate confidentiality provisions. The unenforceable part is narrow: only the specific language that would stop someone from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or the facts related to it. A settlement agreement can still say the payment amount stays private while making clear that nothing in the agreement limits either party’s ability to discuss what happened.

Sexual Harassment Is Not the Same as Sexual Abuse Under This Law

This is the distinction employers get wrong most often. Trey’s Law covers sexual abuse as defined by specific criminal statutes, things like sexual assault, indecency with a child, and trafficking. It does not cover sexual harassment, which is a separate legal category under federal and state anti-discrimination law. An NDA that keeps the details of a harassment settlement confidential is not automatically voided by Trey’s Law.

That doesn’t mean employers get a free pass on harassment confidentiality. Federal and state anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws still apply in full, regardless of what Trey’s Law does or doesn’t cover, and separate limits on NDAs in harassment cases exist elsewhere, including under federal law addressing sexual harassment and sexual assault disputes. Trey’s Law simply isn’t the source of those particular limits. Training materials and HR policies that lump “sexual misconduct” into one category should be specific enough that managers know which rules apply to which type of complaint.

How Trey’s Law Compares to the Federal Speak Out Act

Texas employers with a presence in multiple states should know Trey’s Law isn’t the only NDA restriction in play. The federal Speak Out Act, signed into law in December 2022, voids pre-dispute nondisclosure and non-disparagement clauses covering sexual assault and sexual harassment disputes, but only clauses agreed to before a dispute arises. Once a dispute exists, a settlement agreement’s confidentiality language is untouched by the Speak Out Act, even if it covers sexual harassment or assault.

Trey’s Law works differently. It reaches settlement agreements too, not just pre-dispute contracts, and it applies retroactively to agreements signed years before it existed. What it doesn’t do is cover general sexual harassment, only the narrower category of sexual abuse defined above. Put together, a Texas employer’s settlement agreement addressing a harassment claim needs to satisfy the Speak Out Act’s pre-dispute rule and any Texas-specific requirements, while a settlement addressing an abuse allegation needs to satisfy Trey’s Law regardless of when the underlying agreement was signed.

What Texas Employers Should Do With Existing Agreements

Most Texas employers don’t need to rewrite every contract to comply with Trey’s Law, since the law voids the offending language automatically, regardless of what the document says. A few practical steps still make sense:

• Add general savings language to new agreements. A clause stating that no provision applies to the extent it’s prohibited by law keeps your agreements aligned with Trey’s Law and any future changes without needing constant rewrites. A basic version reads something like: “Nothing in this agreement prohibits either party from disclosing an act of sexual abuse or facts related to such abuse, or from exercising any right that cannot be waived under applicable law.”
• Don’t rely on an old NDA to prevent disclosure of abuse. If a provision in a past settlement or employment agreement was written to silence abuse disclosure, treat it as unenforceable rather than assuming it still holds.
• Review your handbook and workplace policies to confirm they prohibit sexual abuse and harassment clearly, separate from any confidentiality language.
• Check multistate obligations. If you employ people outside Texas, other states have similar or stricter restrictions on what NDAs can cover, and a one-size-fits-all confidentiality clause may not hold up everywhere.
• Loop in counsel before enforcing an older agreement. Attempting to enforce a pre-2025 nondisclosure provision now requires a court’s declaratory judgment, not just a letter from HR.
• Train managers who handle internal complaints. Someone fielding a complaint about sexual abuse shouldn’t be citing a confidentiality clause to discourage the person from talking, even if an old agreement technically contains that language.

None of these steps require tearing up existing contracts. They’re closer to a review checklist than a rewrite project, and most of them can be handled in-house with a short pass from employment counsel.

FAQs about Trey’s Law and Texas NDAs

Does Trey’s Law apply to agreements signed before 2025?

Yes. The law applies to agreements entered into before, on, or after its September 1, 2025 effective date. The only way to enforce an older nondisclosure provision covering sexual abuse is to obtain a final, non-appealable declaratory judgment specifically declaring it enforceable.

Does Trey’s Law cover sexual harassment settlements?

No. The law’s definition of sexual abuse covers specific criminal conduct like sexual assault, indecency with a child, and trafficking. Sexual harassment is a separate legal category, and confidentiality provisions covering harassment settlements aren’t automatically affected by Trey’s Law, though other federal and state laws may still limit them.

Can employers still keep settlement amounts confidential?

Yes. Trey’s Law specifically preserves the ability to keep the amount and payment terms of a settlement confidential. It only voids the part of an agreement that would stop someone from disclosing an act of sexual abuse.

Do employers need to rewrite existing contracts to comply?

Not necessarily. The unenforceable provisions are void automatically under the law, without requiring a formal amendment. Many employment attorneys still recommend adding general savings language to new agreements so confidentiality clauses stay aligned with this law and any future changes.

Who does Trey’s Law protect?

Anyone who could disclose an act of sexual abuse or facts related to it, whether they’re a party to the agreement or someone else with knowledge of the abuse. The law isn’t limited to protecting only the person who was directly harmed.

What happens if an employer tries to enforce an old NDA anyway?

Attempting to enforce a pre-existing nondisclosure provision covering sexual abuse without a qualifying declaratory judgment means enforcing a provision the law already treats as void. That exposes the employer to legal risk well beyond the original dispute.

Is Trey’s Law limited to employment agreements?

No. It applies to nondisclosure or confidentiality provisions in any kind of agreement, including employment contracts, settlement agreements, and other private contracts, not just workplace-related documents.

How is Trey’s Law different from the federal Speak Out Act?

The Speak Out Act only voids pre-dispute nondisclosure clauses covering sexual harassment or assault, and it doesn’t touch settlement agreements signed after a dispute arises. Trey’s Law reaches settlement agreements too and applies retroactively, but only to the narrower category of sexual abuse, not general sexual harassment.

Before You Rely on an Old Confidentiality Clause

Trey’s Law is narrow by design, and most Texas employers won’t need to overhaul their contracts because of it. But the retroactive piece is the part worth taking seriously: a confidentiality provision that seemed airtight when it was signed may already be unenforceable if it touches sexual abuse disclosure. Before assuming an older NDA or settlement agreement still does what it was written to do, check it against what Trey’s Law actually covers, keep the parts about payment amounts and trade secrets doing their job, and get legal counsel involved before trying to enforce anything that predates September 2025.

The employers who run into trouble with laws like this one are rarely the ones acting in bad faith. More often, it’s a standard confidentiality template that got reused for years without anyone checking whether it still matches current law. A short annual review of your standard agreements, paired with the specific steps above, is enough to catch that kind of drift before it becomes a legal problem.