Judge Orders Documents Unsealed in Panasonic Discrimination Case
December 11, 2014DECEMBER 6, 2014
BY HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* Judge tells Panasonic to reevaluate thousands more
An Essex County judge on Friday ordered Panasonic Corp. of America to unseal several documents and reevaluate the reasons for sealing thousands more filed in connection with a lawsuit brought by three African-American women who contend they were discriminated against while working at the company.
Judge Christine Farrington, sitting in Newark, largely rejected the request by Panasonic that she reconsider a ruling made in October, in which she said the company had improperly designated numerous documents to be confidential when there was insufficient reason for them to be sealed.
A few of the documents that were unsealed were highlighted by Smith in court papers to show what she called the “absurdity” of Panasonic’s confidentiality claims. They included a Harvard Business Review article, the résumé of Cruz and a complaint filed in court against Panasonic that was unrelated to the three women’s case.
In court, attorneys for Panasonic said that the Harvard magazine story was marked confidential only because it was an attachment to a more sensitive email. They argued that the majority of the documents should be confidential because they concerned Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cases of other workers at the company.
Smith welcomed the judge’s ruling, saying she had “won” that round.
“I think that it’s an important ruling for an open public justice system,” she said.
Suzanne Cerra, one of Panasonic’s attorneys, said, “Our client looks forward to getting beyond these procedural matters to address the real issues in this case.”
Email: morley@northjersey.com
