NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-3389-19 RAYMOND GONZALEZ, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. WORLD MISSION SOCIETY, CHURCH OF GOD, A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant. _____________________________ Argued January 12, 2022 – Decided February 24, 2022 Before Judges Gilson, Gooden Brown, and Gummer. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, Docket No. L-1025-18. Steven L. Procaccini argued the cause for appellant (Nissenbaum Law Group, LLC, attorneys; Steven L. Procaccini, of counsel and on the briefs; Corey L. LaBrutto, on the briefs). Peter L. Skolnik argued the cause for respondent (Clark Guldin, attorneys; Peter L. Skolnik, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant World Mission Society, Church of God (defendant or World Mission) appeals from a series of orders that denied its motion to compel discovery, declared a confidentiality agreement unenforceable, and denied in part its request for injunctive relief. Having reviewed the arguments, we affirm and find no basis to reverse any of the orders entered by the trial court. I. This appeal arises out of a dispute between World Mission and plaintiff Raymond Gonzalez (plaintiff or Gonzalez), a former member of World Mission. We discern the relevant facts from the record. In 2005, Gonzalez became a congregant of World Mission, which is a non- profit religious organization. When he joined World Mission, Gon zalez was an eighteen-year-old college student. Eventually, Gonzalez dropped out of college, became a "deacon" at World Mission, and helped to develop various websites and email systems for World Mission. He, however, was never an employee of World Mission. Gonzalez also was involved with certain litigations in which World Mission was a party, and he had communications with attorneys representing World Mission. Several of those litigations involved a former congregant , A-3389-19 2 Michele Colón. Colón had criticized World Mission and described it as a "cult" that destroys families and uses mind control over its members. In December 2011, World Mission filed a defamation action against Colón in Virginia (Colón I). That matter was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction over Colón. Shortly thereafter, World Mission filed an identical defamation action against Colón in the Law Division in Bergen County (Colón II). Gonzalez took part in discussing legal strategies concerning Colón I and Colón II. In February 2015, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Colón in Colon II, and World Mission did not file a timely appeal. On January 1, 2012, Gonzalez signed a confidentiality agreement (Confidentiality Agreement), which stated that he would treat "all information disclosed by [World Mission] to" him as confidential information that "shall not be disclosed to any third party." In relevant part, the Confidentiality Agreement stated: It is recognized that it …
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