Baltimore latest: Judge junks peace order but BSO extends Carney suspension

Baltimore latest: Judge junks peace order but BSO extends Carney suspension

main

norman lebrecht

November 14, 2018

A Maryland judge has denied a peace order against concertmaster Jonathan Carney, but the orchestra have extended his suspension until next week..

It accuses him Carney of ‘behaving in an unprofessional manner and exercising poor judgment.’

This is, as we warned, not getting any better.

 

Comments

  • Luigi Nonono says:

    Funny, you can say exactly the same about Katherine Needleman.

  • Doug says:

    When Carney files a counter suit and brings the BSO financially its knees, all the empty slogans and virtue signaling will be no more than hot air. Norman was right; be careful when you open Pandora’s box. You either have to trust the law and tenets of civilized society or accept that the alternative will inevitably lead to mob rule and chaos. Just look at the recent event outside of Tucker Carlson’s house. It will not stop there. Guaranteed.

    • Bill says:

      Carlson was lying about that incident, it didn’t happen, nobody was protesting in front of his house. Progressives have better things to do with their time than waste it on him. And Carney isn’t going to “bring the BSO” to their knees. He needs them to stay in business so he can stay employed.

    • violafan says:

      Did you hear that ladies? Keep your mouths shut about harassment. Doug said so.

    • Sharon says:

      From what I see of the court papers that are posted on line (although a lot of it is confidential) it appears the Met and maybe the judge want the Levine court suit to go away and Levine is insisting on having his day in court. Levine used to say that he is “married” to the Met and he considers this a very bitter divorce where he is the wronged party.

      If Carney truly believes that he is innocent, I agree, it could turn into the same sort of thing. However, unlike the Met the BSO may not have the resources to see this through

  • Wai Kit Leung says:

    Does anyone know why the peace order was thrown out? Was the accusation bogus?
    I would have expected the orchestra to lift the suspension, not to extend it …

    • Another Guest says:

      The legal standards for a permanent peace order are pretty high. It’s the same for hostile work environment, here in the US, at least. The standards for the permanent peace order were not met because the judge did not feel the woman could not prove she was in imminent danger of further harm. The standards of what is appropriate and acceptable for a concertmaster of an orchestra do not have to coordinate with the law’s standards. Many institutions have their own rules for what is acceptable behavior that are more stringent/reasonable (depending on your perspective) than the law. There was no dispute of what Carney threatened. Presumably, the Baltimore Symphony felt it is was not okay to tell a woman she’d never again see the light of day and threaten another’s career.

  • Enquiring Mind says:

    Assuming Needleman’s EEOC complaint goes against her, if Carney chooses to, he might have a good defamation case against her. She waged a public campaign to ruin his reputation with the goal of getting him out of the workplace. He will be able to point to several independent investigations that have vindicated him of harassment. She has been more public with her comments than was probably wise.

    • SomeLawyer says:

      That’s not how it works. The EEOC charge is against the institution, not an individual. The BSO did not have a sexual harassment policy despite knowing of multiple complaints. That is indefensible.

      • Enquiring Mind says:

        SomeLawyer who doesn’t read carefully and sites irrelevant facts. The apparently had a policy to investigate complaints and did so.

  • MockMahler says:

    The late-Tuesday “extension” of suspension past this week’s concerts (which feature Katherine Needleman as soloist) doesn’t mean much. What’s not meaningless is the language of the extension, which (as reported) mentions “behaving in an unprofessional manner” and “exercising poor judgment.” This seems to be a shot across Carney’s bow and an invitation to think about going away.

    Which almost certainly won’t happen. Carney issued a statement looking forward to returning to his “fellow musicians.”

    So now management, smarting from claims of treating the musicians shabbily (in more than one way) is stuck in a situation it can’t get out of without a spotlight how they handle things. That distraction might actually be of some benefit to the musicians, except that the musicians are in a likely will not be able to avoid taking sides in the Carney matter.

    And–Marin’s back in town! Is it coincidental how these 6-day delays interact with the fact that she conducts this week, then isn’t on the schedule again until January–the week before the current extended contract deadline?

    • Guest says:

      Wow dude. You have wayyyyyyy too much time on your hands to think this deeply about this thing. Might you consider getting pet or a hobby?

  • Stegasaurus says:

    What a shame. If Mr. Carney has been cleared of any wrongdoing he should not be suspended.

    The Orchestra has caved in to the new era of self-appointed social justice warriors in their pursuit of freedom. Ironically they are making the world a place of fear where there is less free speech than ever before.

    • Another Guest says:

      This hearing was not about wrongdoing. He was not cleared of any wrongdoing. He wasn’t issued a permanent peace order. You can bet that the Baltimore Symphony listened to the hearing and extended his suspension based upon what was revealed there.

      • Saxon Broken says:

        Um…or maybe the Baltimore Symphony orchestra didn’t. The court hearing really isn’t a disciplinary hearing.

  • Jason says:

    I can’t help but wonder if there’s a relationship between the woman who filed the peace order that was denied, and Katherine Needleman.

    • Jason says:

      The fact that the peace order story was leaked to the press before Mr Carney even had been issued it, as well as this woman’s lawyer knowing intimate details of the confidential BSO investigation report, leads many people to be highly suspicious of their connection. Mr Carney’s lawyer has established the link and will be pursuing it when appropriate according to sources.

  • Stegasaurus says:

    On another note, why is the Balt Symphony fighting so hard to keep Jonathan Carney around? He is obviously a problem and a highly mediocre violinist. Couldn’t they easily get someone better?

    • Jason says:

      Mr Carney is better than mediocre though admittedly not as good as section players in surrounding orchestras. I think orchestras feel an allegiance with their players and defend them sometimes because of history: even if they arent all that good as is the case here.

      • Judy says:

        He is an awesome concertmaster. The violin section in total in Baltimore has sounded stellar for a long time and better than many many other major orchestras.

        • The Real Jason says:

          Stegasaurus, you obviously haven’t heard the BSO since Mr Carney took over. As one of the world’s great Concertmasters, he has simply put the BSO on the map.

  • MOST READ TODAY: