A Manhattan appeals court has upheld a $450,000 arbitration award against Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner for firing a partner in violation of an employment contract.

Lee A. Goldberg joined the former Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner as a patent litigation partner in August 2005 but was fired in September 2006, just before the firm’s merger with San Francisco’s Thelen Reid & Priest.