SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN, District Judge.
On November 24, 2015, this Court found Respondent Christine Rice in contempt and issued an order (the "Contempt Order") requiring her to cease violating the preliminary injunction order (the "Injunction Order") issued by this Court on October 23, 2015, and levying fines against her in an attempt to coerce compliance. Rice has both ignored the Contempt Order and continued her pattern of misconduct. Claimant Genzyme Corporation ("Genzyme") now moves for further contempt sanctions against Rice in the form of civil incarceration. For the following reasons, Genzyme's motion is GRANTED.
Genzyme filed this action on October 6, 2015 seeking a preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration. The arbitration arose out of Rice's breaches of a Settlement Agreement and Release of all Claims (the "Agreement") between Genzyme and Rice. The Agreement required Rice to keep the claims settled by the Agreement confidential, and to refrain from disparaging Genzyme and its employees.
Rice failed to oppose Genzyme's motion for a preliminary injunction.
The Contempt Order required Rice to:
"A court of the United States shall have power to punish by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as . . . [d]isobedience or resistance to its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command."
"Once civil contempt is established, district courts have `broad discretion to fashion an appropriate coercive remedy . . . based on the nature of the harm and the probable effect of alternative sanctions.'"
There has never been and can be no question that Rice is in willful contempt of this Court's Injunction Order and Contempt Order. The facts conclusively demonstrate that Rice was promptly notified each and every time Genzyme came before this Court seeking relief, from its initial motion for a preliminary injunction in aid of arbitration through this motion for further contempt sanctions. Even after receiving the Contempt Order, Rice — who Genzyme certifies received Genzyme's moving papers and this Court's resulting orders — elected not to respond or appear in Court.
The facts also demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that Rice has violated the Court's Injunction and Contempt Orders, both by continuing to make the same violative communications complained of by Genzyme in its original motion for a preliminary injunction and by ignoring the Court's order that she pay civil fines, which continue to accrue until she complies with the Injunction Order. Rice has declined to provide any justification for her actions — certainly, she has not clearly established that she is incapable of complying with the Court's orders. The Injunction Order requires no payment of fines — it simply requires Rice to cease sending and posting messages that violate her Agreement with Genzyme. She is capable of complying at any time. Therefore, Rice continues to be in civil contempt.
Because Rice has failed to comply with this Court's Injunction and Contempt Orders, despite being given every opportunity to do so, she is hereby ordered incarcerated until she complies with the terms set out in the Injunction Order. Rice's contumacy actively harms Genzyme — she continues to send disparaging emails and messages to Genzyme employees, and has yet to remove disparaging articles and posts from her social media pages. There is also no reason to think a lesser sanction, such as increased fines, would have any impact on her behavior. She has absented herself from the entirety of these proceedings, and the civil fines already levied ($2,500, and $250 per day until she complies with the Court's Injunction Order) failed to secure Rice's compliance. Simply ratcheting up the fines would not protect Genzyme from further disparagement, and there is no reason for this Court to think that Rice would have a change of heart after completely ignoring the fines levied against her in November.
Simply put, this Court is left with only one choice. "While imprisonment for civil contempt is not an insignificant measure, it is necessary in light of . . . repeated and intransigent failures" to comply with the Court's orders, "and in the interests of protecting the integrity of the Court's orders."
For the foregoing reasons, claimant's motion for additional coercive sanctions is GRANTED. The Clerk of the Court is directed to close this motion (Dkt. No. 22).
SO ORDERED.