OPINION & ORDER Petitioner Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (“Laidlaw” or “Petitioner”) commenced this action to partially vacate an arbitration award (the “Award”), which denied Laidlaw’s claims against John Michael Marinaccio (“Marinaccio” or “Respondent”). Marinaccio, proceeding pro se, cross-petitioned to confirm the Award.1 For the reasons that follow, Laidlaw’s petition to partially vacate is denied, and Marinaccio’s cross-petition to confirm is granted. BACKGROUND2 Laidlaw is a foreign corporation and a registered broker-dealer with its United States headquarters and principal place of business in New York. Pet., Dkt. 1, 6. Marinaccio is a resident of New Jersey and a former employee of Laidlaw. Pet.
2, 7-8. On approximately June 15, 2017, Marinaccio resigned from Laidlaw and began working for Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC (“JGUN”), a Laidlaw competitor. Pet. 2; Pet. Ex. Q (“Hearing Tr.”) at 19:11-13, 38:4-9.3 On June 30, 2017, in response to an Order to Show Cause filed by Laidlaw, the Supreme Court of New York issued a temporary restraining order against Marinaccio and JGUN restraining both parties from soliciting Laidlaw’s customers or using Laidlaw’s confidential information, including any of Laidlaw’s customer lists. See Pet. 11; see also Pet. Ex. C (the “TRO”). The parties were subsequently compelled to arbitrate the matter pursuant to their customer agreements and their registration statuses with FINRA. See Pet. Ex. I (Amended Statement of Claim) 8; see also Pet. 13. On September 12, 2017, as part of the proceedings before the FINRA arbitration panel (the “Panel”), the parties stipulated to an injunction that substantially extended the TRO through the course of the FINRA arbitration. See Pet. 14; Pet. Ex. F (Stipulation Continuing Restraints). The parties also stipulated that Marinaccio had taken certain information from Laidlaw and had returned all such information, that neither Marinaccio nor JGUN retained such information, and that, pending final resolution of the arbitration, Marinaccio and JGUN would only solicit customers subject to certain agreed limitations. See Pet. Ex. F. By October 2017, Marinaccio had left JGUN and started working at First Standard Financial Company LLC (“FSFC”), another Laidlaw competitor. See Resp’t Mot., Dkt. 17, Ex. F (Dec. 15, 2017 Letter).4 On October 23, 2017, JGUN and Marinaccio filed a Joint Answer denying Laidlaw’s Statement of Claim. See Pet. 15; Pet. Ex. G (Joint Answer). In the same filing, Marinaccio also asserted several counterclaims against Laidlaw, including a counterclaim for an unpaid bonus. See Pet. Ex. G (Joint Answer) at 7-13. The Panel subsequently allowed Laidlaw to file an Amended Statement of Claim. See Pet.
