CLAYTON, Mo. -- Sue Hernandez, the estranged wife of New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, is seeking $12.5 million from her husband in a personal injury lawsuit that is being kept under unusual secrecy.
Records in the suit filed Wednesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court were ordered sealed by Circuit Judge Robert Campbell. The request to keep the case records secret was filed by Walter Clark, the attorney representing Sue Hernandez.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Saturday that a records custodian is guarding the sealed petition in an area away from the file room where such lawsuits normally are kept.
The request states that the documents should be sealed because they are of a 'most sensitive and confidential nature which could potentially cause great embarrassment to the parties if such information were known to the general public.'
Hernandez was one of seven players who testified in the baseball drug trial of a Philadelphia caterer last month. He admitted to using cocaine while as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Hernandez and his wife have been separated for two years. Sue Hernandez lives in the suburban Chesterfieldarea of St. Louis.
Campbell's order says the petition will be kept under seal and that the parties will be designated by intials only -- 'H.S. vs. H.K.'
Robert Ruhland, the county's director of judicial administration, said filing a suit so clandestinely is unusual. The Post-Dispatch said it had confirmed the parties involved are the baseball star and his estranged wife. The newspaper noted court documents commonly are filed with a person's last name coming before his first name.
Divorce proceedings for the Hernandezes are pending. Many of the documents in the divorce also have been sealed by court order.
Campbell said the personal injury case is extremely sensitive and that part of the reason for the secrecy is to save embarrassment for the childen.
The couple has two daughters, ages 5 and 19 months. Court documents show the Mets star has adopted Sue Hernandez's 12-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. She and Hernandez were married in January 1979.
All the children are in the custody of Sue Hernandez.
Campbell's order states that all future pleadings in the case will be sealed.
Hernandez was never served a summons in the personal injury case. His lawyer, George Schaaf, appeared on the baseball star's behalf.
