Dresden fires soloist over ‘baseless’ #Metoo claims
mainIstvan Simon, the principal dancer who was suspended two weeks ago when he accused the Semperoper balletmaster of sexual harassment, has been fired after an internal investigation dismissed his claims.
‘The relationship of trust has been broken,’ the company said.
This is exactly why people have been fearful to report harassment – they need to find a way to enable transparency, reporting of complaints and professionalism (monitors, ensuring boundaries and professionalism regardless of complaint being dismissed) – I can’t understand all that German, but it seems he shouldn’t have been fired for complaining, even if complaint dismissed, and no retaliation must occur
He wasn’t just fired for complaining. Here’s a summary of “all that German”:
– The house conducted an extensive enquiry into his publicly announced claims, during which the complainant was not willing to participate in any talks with either the management or the independent investigator.
– The Director of Ballet said that since the previous season there have been artistic and technical issues with Simon’s performance. He lost focus on his parts and became unsteady when lifting his partners. Leading female dancers refused to perform with him, one reported “fearing for her life”, and during one performance he almost caused a fatal accident.
– During initial discussions Simon seemed understanding and cooperative, but then he suddenly came out publicly as “gender fluid” and started to make out that all the problems were the result of discrimination and harassment on behalf of the company.
– Given his refusal to cooperate with the enquiry, the management now feels that all trust has been broken and this is why he has been fired.
Thank you for summarizing – it is very irksome (and common) for NL to post items in German with no translation and perhaps, as here, misleading “summary” (I guess he’s chasing click $$ cash)
Does anyone else think he looks a bit like Celia Imrie?
I was thinking a young Simon Rattle, but now that I’ve googled Celia Imrie…you nailed it.
Yes, absolutely. I thought that from the moment I first saw his picture the first time around.
#metoo
Has something of Robin Ticciati too.