Matthew Muckey and Liang Wang.
In Thursday’s (4/10) New York Times, Javier C. Hernández writes, “Two musicians who were fired by the New York Philharmonic filed amended complaints against the orchestra on Thursday that assert they were wrongfully dismissed and that an inquiry by the ensemble had been biased against them. The players—the associate principal trumpet, Matthew Muckey, and the principal oboist, Liang Wang—were fired in October, after the Philharmonic said an investigation had uncovered what it described as credible claims against them of sexual assault and harassment…. The orchestra initially tried to fire them for misconduct in 2018, but their union challenged their dismissals and an arbitrator ordered the orchestra to reinstate them. But last year, after New York magazine reported new details of the accusations against them, the Philharmonic conducted a new investigation, suspended them and then moved to fire them. This time their union is not challenging their dismissals. The two musicians had originally filed suit against the Philharmonic and the players’ union, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, last spring when the orchestra suspended them. They were later fired, and the amended complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan are responses to those dismissals, which Mr. Muckey and Mr. Wang contend were based on an arbitrary and opaque inquiry designed to find fault against them…. The Philharmonic declined to comment…. The players’ union declined to comment.”
