“One of the most closely watched #MeToo-related legal battles in classical music—pitting the eminent conductor James Levine against the Metropolitan Opera, which fired him in 2018 amid accusations of sexual misconduct—came to an inconclusive end on Tuesday, when the two sides announced that they had quietly settled their claims against each other,” writes Michael Cooper in Tuesday’s (8/6) New York Times. “The terms of the settlement between the Met and Mr. Levine, 76, were not disclosed in a stipulation discontinuing the case that was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Neither side would comment on the details, or whether money changed hands…. The Met initially suspended Mr. Levine in late 2017 after … several men … said that they had been sexually abused by him as teenagers; Mr. Levine denied their accusations. The Met fired him in March 2018…. Mr. Levine then sued the Met for breach of contract and defamation…. A judge dismissed almost all of Mr. Levine’s defamation claims against the Met this spring, but Mr. Levine’s breach-of-contract claims may have been strengthened by the fact that his agreement with the Met did not contain a so-called ‘morals clause’ holding him to certain standards of behavior.”
Posted August 7, 2019
