Judge John Keenan
Respondents Amato and Herlihy were hired by Istithmar World in 2006 under employment contracts calling for arbitration of employment disputes. They were paid severance exceeding $1 million under their contracts upon resigning in 2009. Their arbitration demand for additional compensation and other damages was denied in March 2012. Granting Istithmar World confirmation of the arbitral awardnot opposed by respondentsthe court rejected respondents’ position that Istithmar’s filing of the award in the public docket breached a 2011 confidentiality stipulation. Istithmar wanted the award’s confirmation publicly recorded “to ensure its res judicata effect.” Not a party to the confidentiality stipulation, the court deemed itself not bound to it. Noting the strong presumption of access to “judicial documents,” the court held that respondents failed to show why the arbitral award should be sealed. The award could be redacted to prevent disclosure of private information. Also, little of substance supported respondents’ request to allow them to file their post-trial brief from the arbitration in the public docket. They provided no precedent for the filing of arbitral post-trial briefs in the docket of the confirming court.
