In this area, silence is golden. True, employees deserve full, current, and constant information about all material matters before, during, and after the merger—but speculative information is not considered to be material. It would not be covered, for example, by the WARN Act, which requires six-month notification of employees for certain kinds of layoffs (see The WARN Act).

Hypothetical information about the possible divestiture of a unit falls into the “don’t ask, don’t tell” category.