Elizabeth Stafford v. International Business Machines Corporation

The question presented in this Petition is whether an arbitration agreement can be used to keep an arbitration award holding an employer liable for age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq., secret, when it was filed in support of a petition to confirm the award under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq. Under Section 9 of the FAA, a prevailing party in arbitration “may apply to the court so specified for an order confirming the award.” 9 U.S.C. § 9. Here, Petitioner Elizabeth Stafford petitioned the District Court for confirmation of an arbitration award and asked that the award be unsealed as a judicial document. The Second Circuit below reversed the District Court and erroneously held that the confidentiality provision of an arbitration agreement overcomes the presumption of public access to judicial documents filed in federal court that is grounded in the First Amendment and common play predating the Constitution. See United States v. Amodeo, 44 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir. 1995). In so doing, the Second Circuit has prevented other employees from being able to rely on that arbitration award in the pursuit of their own age discrimination claims in arbitration. The Second Circuit’s decision also deepened a circuit split regarding whether a petition to confirm an arbitration award is rendered moot by the payment of the award, thereby creating confusion among litigants and lower courts.