One of the ugliest divorce battles in Connecticut history demonstrates both the difficulty of getting warring spouses to abide by confidentiality agreements, and how courts are increasingly willing to enforce them.
The case involves Dr. Nicholas Perricone, known as an "anti-aging guru." His wife, Madeline, was set to expose him as a cheat. Last December, Dr. Perricone got word that Madeleine was to appear on ABC's "20/20," and got a judge to issue a ex parte cease-and-desist order preventing the appearance. A hearing on the order was postponed; but the day before the new hearing date, the New York Post ran an article based on interviews with Mrs. Perricone. Dr. Perricone had been on the Today show to promote his company, but another station canceled an interview when the scandal hit.
When the hearing on the cease-and-desist did take place, Mrs. Perricone argued that a Nov. 3, 2003, confidentiality agreement had caused her to do something no American can do: contractually waive their fundamental First Amendment Rights. However, the court cited not only precedent, but also the divorce case of former General Electric CEO Jack Welch to rule her claim had no merit. In short, Mrs. Perricone can't do any more press interviews.
Confidentiality orders in divorce cases are becoming more commonplace, with trade secrets, business practices and identity theft being paramount concerns. And while spouses like Mrs. Perricone may want to spill the beans on errant spouses, even on national television, they must still abide by those orders.
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