Male Violinist Sues new york Philharmonic

http://www.comcast.net ^ | 7 23 05 | Associated Press

[freepatriot32]

NEW YORK - A violinist who claims the New York Philharmonic fired him because he is a man says some of the women who were promoted ahead of him gave flowers and other gifts to their bosses.

Anton Polezhayev, 29, says in a lawsuit that he was asked to leave after the 2003-2004 season, in the last month of his 17-month probation, despite being told by orchestra officials that he was doing "a fine job" and that his playing was "perfect."

Polezhayev's lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said Friday that the Philharmonic's personnel manager, Carl R. Schiebler, even wrote a letter to a landlord on the violinist's behalf, saying he expected Polezhayez would be "a long-term member of the orchestra."

Meanwhile, Polezhayev says in court papers filed Thursday, seven female violinists won permanent jobs or were promoted over him, although some had less experience than he had, or had not auditioned for the positions.

Polezhayev's court papers and Leeds said that some of the women's progress was accomplished by giving gifts, including flowers and champagne, to musical director Lorin Maazel and Glenn Dicterow, the concertmaster or principal violinist.

Of the Philharmonic's 33 violinists, 20 are women, the orchestra's Web site says.

"I think that if I were exactly the same person in a female body they would keep me for life and never fire me," Polezhayev said Friday by telephone.

Eric Latzky, the Philharmonic's spokesman, said he had no comment on the lawsuit.

Polezhayev, a U.S. citizen since 1996, is a native of Russia where he began his musical education in Moscow. En route to the Philharmonic, he won or placed well in several international violin competitions.

During his Philharmonic probationary period, Polezhayev was supposed to have 13 meetings with orchestra leaders so they could give him feedback and progress reports, court papers say. No such meetings were held, he says.

After Polezhayev complained to Schiebler and Dicterow about what he considered gender discrimination, they brought his complaints to Maazel's attention.

Maazel told Polezhayev in a meeting that he was being fired for "unprofessional behavior" and because he "was not good for the orchestra," despite being a good violinist, court papers say.

The musician said no one had expressed concern before about his behavior. On Feb. 10, 2004, court papers say, he received a letter from Schiebler telling him he was being fired as a Sept. 19, 2004.

Polezhayev says in court papers he was actually fired "in part, due to his gender and/or because of his good faith opposition to discriminatory practices."

"There was long-term damage to my career," Polezhayev said in the phone interview. "I will have a lot of trouble getting a job with another good orchestra. Getting fired is a black mark on your career. All musicians know that."

Polezhayev's lawsuit names the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Maazel, Dicterow and Schiebler as defendants. He is demanding a permanent job, back pay, and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Leeds said that after his client was fired, he was forced to give up his Manhattan apartment and move back into his parents' Long Island home. The lawyer said Polezhayev has not worked since being fired by the orchestra.

The Philharmonic is currently in Vail, Colo., for a nine-day concert series.

[freepatriot32]

This story ha s to be from the onion because new york liberals of all people wouldnt discriminate on the basis of sex and they sure wouldnt fire someone for objecting to discrimination on the basis of sex.Only evil red state bible reading gun owning republicans are hitleresqe enough to do something like that.

The liberals in the blue states are as pure as the wind driven snow and would never ever engage in barbaric behavoir like discrimination why thats bigoted and only republicans can be bigoted /sarcasm

[freepatriot32]

Libertarian ping to be added or removed from my list freepmail me or post a message here

Im back did you miss me ? :-) My computer blew up last week and i didnt get it replaced until yesterday.The bad news is that I had my libertarian ping list stored on the old computer and cant get to it now so im working fro m the list i had on my freerepublic about page and that is outdated.So if you are on my libertarian ping list and didnt get pinged to this story please freepmail me again to be readded to the list

[fanfan]

Yes, we missed you. ;-)

[SmithL]

in the last month of his 17-month probation

Oh, well!

[grey_whiskers]

said that some of the women's progress was accomplished by giving gifts, including flowers and champagne, to musical director Lorin Maazel and Glenn Dicterow, the concertmaster or principal violinist.

Is it any coincidence that "Stravinsky" rhymes with "Lewinsky" ?

[Dr.Hilarious]

Or "harmonica" includes "Monica"--oh, wait a minute...

[Daaave]

Anton Polezhayev, 29 years old, 45th International Violin Competition "Premio Paganini" Genova 1998

We are constantly told how understanding and "liberal" liberals are. We could never believe that liberals would discriminate on the basis of gender or sexual preference.

Yet after years of discrimination against white males, and attacks on conservative women, blacks and homosexuals, by the liberals, we can all see what a bunch of hypocrites they really are.

[familyop]

Most men fantasize about getting something out of feminism. But women are more in demand at orgies than men are. We're seeing a national orgy, of sorts.

[robertpaulsen]

Seems to me he was fired for being a jerk.

[patton]

He moved to Vienna? LOLOL - talk about jumping from the pan to the fire. Snort. That is hilarious.

[Cowboy Bob]

Didn't Amy Carter play the violin? Maybe she can try out for the open position.

[Publius6961]

Maazel told Polezhayev in a meeting that he was being fired for "unprofessional behavior"

I would feel like I had a better grasp of all the factors in this story had this person been a little more... errr... explicit?

[Publius6961]

Seems to me he was fired for being a jerk.

Would you mind terribly sharing the results of your Ouija session with us?

[Sam Hill]

The NY Philharmonic actually do their auditions with the candidate behind a curtain, so that the judges don't know their sex, etc.

I only point it out because that is probably the only reason this guy got a try out in the first place.

Look at any footage of symphonies from forty or fifty years ago. They were overwhelmingly male.

The trend has been reversed. I don't believe it is that there are suddenly so many better female musicians.

[robertpaulsen]

"Would you mind terribly sharing the results of your Ouija session with us?"

I thought I did.

[robertpaulsen]

"The NY Philharmonic actually do their auditions with the candidate behind a curtain, so that the judges don't know their sex, etc."

Yeah, but when the judges say, "Thank you" and the "Your welcome" comes back from behind the curtain, it's a dead giveaway.

[Now_is_The_Time]

Yeah, those guys are waaaay better musicians than the New York Philharmonic. (/salutes them with my Pabst and Moon Pie)