Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Although the #MeToo movement gained significant ground with prominent actresses in Hollywood, they’ve made it clear that Tinsel Town is hardly the only place where this kind of alleged abuse and misogyny take place. On the other side of the country, a recent investigation into James Levine, the former music director of the Met Opera in New York City, found that he had been guilty of sexual misconduct throughout his career, particularly towards young singers and artists over whose careers he had significant control. Levine is disputing these findings and had sued the Met for libel.
Levine worked at the Met for more than 40 years and had been hailed as one of the most beloved conductors of all time, but shortly after celebrating the milestone anniversary, Levine began to suffer from health problems that interfered with his abilities to fulfill all his duties as music director. He had to step down as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and suffered an injury that prevented him from conducting at the Met for two years, although he was kept on as music director. After his return to the podium, singers and musicians had reported that Levine had recently become erratic and hard to follow in his conducting.
Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, has allegedly been trying to get Levine to step down as music director of the Met for the past few years. Levine was just recently fired after a company investigation found significant evidence that Levine was guilty of sexual misconduct, both before and during his time at the Met. The investigation came after reports of such misconduct were published in prominent newspapers. Continue reading ›