Breaking: Baltimore fires principal flute over social media posts
NewsThe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has just dismissed principal flute Emily Skala over social media posts that were sceptical of Covid measures and the outcome of the 2020 election.
A statement says: ‘Principal Flutist Emily Skala has been dismissed from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in accordance with the progressive discipline policy agreed to in our collective bargaining agreement with the Musicians’ Association of Metropolitan Baltimore Local 40-543, AFM. Ms Skala has had discipline imposed upon her over these past few months; unfortunately, she has repeated the conduct for which she had been previously disciplined, and dismissal was the necessary and appropriate reaction to this behavior.’
Looking at Emily’s social media, she has posted nothing controversial in recent weeks, so the dismissal must relate to previous comments. We have asked for her response to this draconian action.
Emily Skala is an occasional commenter on slippeddisc.com. Her observations, which are sometimes challenging, have never gone beyond the bounds of reasonable expression and discussion.
Her dismissal is extraordinary and shocking. The orchestra has asked us to clarify that it involved ‘continued and repeated infractions’ and was not limited to contrary opinions on social media posts.
Emily Skala has previously been a guest principal with the London Philharmonic and Sao Paolo orchestras. She is a faculty member of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, which is a world centre for Covid data.
UPDATE: The Baltimore Symphony’s president and CEO Peter Kjome has added this statement: ‘Ms. Skala has had discipline imposed upon her over these past few months for violating several policies; unfortunately, she has repeated the conduct for which she had been previously disciplined, and dismissal was the necessary and appropriate reaction to this behavior.’
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Read also: When an orchestra fires a principal player
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Previous Emily Skala controversies on slippedisc.com:
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has issued a statement, dissociating itself from the views of principal flute Emily Skala, who has posted a Covid-sceptic video. Read here.
Emily Skala has written to Slippedisc.com, describing herself an independent thinker and claiming that (s) she has been misunderstood and (b) the furore against her was raised by the girlfriend of the ex-husband of Baltimore’s 2nd flute. Read here.
Why is my orchestra such a hostile workplace? Read here.
Disgusting example of the tyranny of opinion that is so common these days.
No, that’s free market enterprise at work.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
And, for what it’s worth, COVID-denial and promoting the Big Lie isn’t “reasonable.”
MSM and social media certainly support your opinions.
To fcg:
SARS-CoV-2 has been proven not to exist. The CDC has no sample to offer any lab which may require it as a basis for comparison to their other samples. People in Ireland and in Vancouver, Canada have demanded in court to see proof of Covid from their respective Health Departments in order to validate mask and vaccine mandates. The respective Health Ministers had to capitulate and acknowledged that SARS-CoV-2 has never been isolated in a laboratory by any scientific process. What we have been getting sick with, as proven in 1500 samples sent to Stanford University by seven EU Universities, is Influenza A and B; mostly A. There is no pandemic. The causes of deaths have been due to the very same diseases people always die from year after year, and people are dying at the very same rate at which we normally die, between 7%-11% annually. 10% in 2020. There are outlier years. I think 2017 was especially bad yet we wore no masks and closed down no businesses. This is all part of the New World Order plan. Lest you think this belongs only to Klaus Schwab and his ilk, George H. W. Bush can be heard speaking of this often. The true goal here was to get as many people vaccinated as possible by playing up the fear factor of Covid-19. “Covid” stands for “Certificate of Vaccine Idetification.” “19” stands for “AI,” (Artificial Intelligence.) A is the first letter of the alphabet. Which letter is the 9th?
I risked my job to warn musicians not to take the bait. I saw it as a moral imperative. Peoples’ lives, I reasoned, are more important than one individual’s job. I hope we all can agree on that point, even if you have a hard time hearing the TRUTH…which is usually uncomfortable.
Oy vey.
You fell for an internet hoax luv,
https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/scientific-evidence-demonstrates-that-covid-19-and-the-virus-that-causes-it-exist-and-are-different-from-the-flu/
I researched your claim and a paper written by the CDC was misrepresented as are many scientific papers. It is not easy for the average person to interpret any scientific paper or study accurately. You are entitled to your opinions, but how do you choose to trust one side over another?
“Emily Skala is an occasional commenter on slippeddisc.com. Her observations, which are sometimes challenging, have never gone beyond the bounds of reasonable expression and discussion.”
Maybe you can hire her as the moderator on this site, her comments sure fit in quite nicely with the stuff allowed to be posted here.
All views should be allowed. It’s called freedom of speech and opinion, much as you seem to dislike the idea.
I’m so sorry. May we change our opinions to accommodate your feelings?
i have never heard of her, much less read her posts, however on what bearing does this have on her flute playing? i do not care about her content. is this an orchestra, or a cult of group-think? disagree all you may like to, but if she does the job in which she was hired-and does it well- this is blatantly discriminatory and i hope she sues the BSO into oblivion. i give up. farming appeals to me now. a nice sweet pig is not gonna fire me.
Musicians are not just hired to sit-and-play. They are also ambassadors for the orchestra in the community. It is likely she had a large file of other issues over the years. Probably better for both of them in the long run.
That’s an outrageous assumption you just made there, Judy.
Ambassadors? I’ve snorted coke with a half-dozen BSO musicians.
so? Is drinking okay with you? If people are not ruining there lives because they are addicted what is the problem? Recreational drug use is a thing. Not everyone gets addicted the first time or ruins their life.
“…what bearing does this have on her flute playing?”
For one, someone with this attitude poses a real threat to her colleagues. It is not discriminatory IMHO.
oh please. i’ve had plenty of non musical disagreements with colleagues and this did not affect the performance whatsoever. we are there to serve a composer and an audience. period. if one cannot handle polite disagreements over things political than honestly, get a new job in some nest of comforting like-mindedness
Not the point – you are not hired to just sit there and play – you are supposed to be good citizens in the community too.
This is patent nonsense . She is there to play and unless a player is harassing or abusing colleagues, this should never happen .what a shocking stare if affairs.
I’ve also had plenty of disagreements with colleagues – but I’ve never had a Typhoid Mary (Covid Karen?) sitting next to me in the winds spraying virus laden reed water all over the place.
That’s a fear-based comment if I ever heard one, Paul. These are very destructive. 90% of what goes on at the BSO is fear-based. That ought to help you understand now.
Judgmental, Robert, not humble. You do not understand the situation on the ground in the BSO, by which I mean with all due respect, a lot of information is missing and you would not be able to assess it properly without it.
Then share this information so we can assess it properly.
Wouldn’t be accurate if any of what she has posted above is anything to go by. The Founding Fathers were trying to break ties with GEORGE II? This columns is riddled with specific misinformation from this colander of a brain. Full of misremembered or misinformed stuff that she seems to consider “facts.” Only if your dictionary for facts is Kellyanne Conway.
Most orchestras — most organizations — have a clause in their employment contract about being able to fire someone for behavior that is damaging to the organization, or creating a toxic work environment*. Usually this shows up in the form of damage or theft of the orchestra’s property, or assault/ harassment of other personnel; but sometimes things like this come to light. It doesn’t require any actual laws to be broken.
These rules don’t usually attract much attention because employees usually don’t find it troublesome to obey them.
*(This also includes an agreement to abide by any new rules should the rules change.)
BruceB, does this include shoot-from-the-hip, because-I-feel-like-making-up-a-new-code-of-conduct-just-for-this-purpose kind of “rule?”
It can, unfortunately.
“i have never heard of her, much less read her posts”
So without acquainting yourself with any particulars regarding this situation you felt the need to tell us what you think about a situation that you are ignorant of.
Suing…Good luck with that. You can’t get blood out of a turnip.
This is so disappointing
Yet again, in real journalism, facts do matter. It’s pretty clear she was fired for more than just social media posts…
From the Baltimore Sun article:
https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-bso-fires-flutist-20210803-lech6hmo2ja7vopa2miez5usku-story.html
“Principal Flutist Emily Skala has been dismissed from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in accordance with the progressive discipline policy agreed to in our collective bargaining agreement with the Musicians’ Association of Metropolitan Baltimore Local 40-543, AFM,” wrote Peter Kjome, the BSO’s president and CEO.
“Ms. Skala has had discipline imposed upon her over these past few months; unfortunately, she has repeated the conduct for which she had been previously disciplined, and dismissal was the necessary and appropriate reaction to this behavior.”
A spokeswoman for the symphony declined to provide further details, and it wasn’t clear whether the “repeated conduct” the statement refers to included new social media posts.
Skala said she believes the incident that culminated in her dismissal occurred July 23, when she went to Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to hand in a new W-4 form. She was not wearing a mask and had not had a COVID-19 test as is required by BSO health protocols, but she said she hadn’t intended to go inside. However, when she discovered that her key card had been deactivated, she attempted to open the door to hand her form to a security guard.
Skala said BSO officials interpreted this as violating the terms of the suspension barring her from the building.“
“when she discovered that her key card had been deactivated, she attempted to open the door to hand her form to a security guard.”
Now, let me think … why would they have deactivated her keycard? (irony mode here)
If she knew she would be barred from entering the building, she should have mailed in her form, or given it to a colleague to turn in for her, or to a secretary, etc.
Musicians are supposed to be creative, or not?
you can have the document scanned at Staples and emailed to HR in about 60 seconds. She was attempting to instigate a confrontation, claim she’s a victim, and then use that very confrontation she orchestrated against the BSO.
Robert,
Should have, could have, would have…this works for those who have the means to make other decisions. For those who are being targeted and disempowered, there rarely are choices.
“Ms. Skala has had discipline imposed upon her over these past few months; unfortunately, she has repeated the conduct for which she had been previously disciplined, and dismissal was the necessary and appropriate reaction to this behavior.”
To Facts Matter:
You may appreciate knowing that this statement is a work of fiction.
Gee, Emily, looks like nobody believes you.
You fell right into their hands the moment you tried to enter the building without a facemask…. they must have been thrilled.
This story shows the fascist, totalitarian boot which is coming down on all of our necks. Someone needs to tell the Baltimore Symphony that we have something called the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects free speech. Even though the Globalist, fascist agenda has advanced, there are more Americans than you can imagine who are willing to die rather than be stripped of these rights. Just watch. And by the way, I hate to break it to you but the lies around Covid and the fraudulent 2020 election will come out.
Donald, is that you ?
I think that Emily Skala (and you) are complete nut jobs, but I don’t see what this has to do with her position in the orchestra. It just shows the inequity of ‘at will’ employment contracts.
Shes only a woman…
The BSO works under a collective bargaining agreement. They’re not “at will” employees.
Hi Robert,
The State of Maryland is an At Will state. This would apply to employees whose work life is not governed by contract and who do not have tenure, of course. Not everything is copacetic with what the BSO has done.
Irrelevant to your case, for the reason Robert stated.
I don’t know anything about the BaltSO decision, but I can imagine that they thought her social media posts reflected (badly) upon the orchestra.
Alviano,
Several lawyers have explained to me that one cannot be fired for her beliefs, which is what my FB posts reflect, in many peoples’ opinions.
Don’t forget that lawyers can be sued for malpractice. That may prove useful to you someday.
Why do you “ several lawyers”?
Perhaps these lawyers should recommend the fifth amendment.
She is a member of a musician’s trade union and not an “at will” employee. If she were an at will employee she probably would have been fired months ago.
Melissa, MD is an “At Will” state. This term does not apply to employees.
How do you know she’s “at will”?
Something tells me that this is just pretext, and that they actually went after her for something else internal — like filing grievances they didn’t like.
That’s standard behavior for union employers. Engage in a protected activity and all of a sudden your file starts filling up.
Another personal insult from a caring lefty. When will this appalling caste be called to justice?
I never realized that anti- vaccination lunatics or election fraud fools are also on the SD site. This folly does not pass too well with classical music.
Oh yes. And you’d be surprised how well this folly goes along with classical music. Musicians can be just as cantankerous and conspiracy-minded as anybody else.
And, as ill-informed.
There are an ENORMOUS number of ultra-right wingers (some even quasi-Nazis in places like Australia) posting on this site.
From where I stand, it’s the “Progressives” who act the most fascist.
You must be standing in the US.
Yes, but they’re never called to account.
Any idea why this site attracts such audiences? I’ve been baffled.
Because there are a large number of Europeans who don’t share the same political biases as the US liberal left.
They’re just as bad over here, believe me.
According to the Baltimore Sun, she was fired for “..social posts that supported conspiracy theories about the origins of the coronavirus and about election fraud.” The only fascist here is her for trying to subvert the election. She can go to Margo Largo and blow her flute there. Good Riddance!
Protesting about election fraud was ok from 2017-2021. It was also ok in 2000 and 2004.
Yeah..but it was an attempted coup by a bunch of Neo-Nazis storming the capital and attempting to scare congressmen from counting the ballots. You tell me if this is justifiable.
Hyperbole is never justifiable
Yo Dog. I guess you are OK with that a**hole with the “Camp Auschwitz” t-shirt at the Jan. 6 riot? No hyperbole here. You can google it. But I guess plenty people here believe Trump when he said that “there were good people on both sides” after a white supremacist crashed in car into a crowd and killed a young woman in Charlottesville in 2017.
Bad actors are bad. No one believes the camp auschwitz shirt guy is anything but a troll; similarly, many believe that the people President Trump was referring to were the nonracists who attend the event either to support removal of statues or support leaving them in place.
Plenty of room for disagreement, but distorting facts for your narrative doesn’t make your argument stronger.
Firing her is not.
If you really are a truth seeker, you need to educate yourself on what fascism is. Are you aware that the Turd Reich had to be informed that Nazis and Hitler were bad? Remember Charlottesville? Fascism is a FAR RIGHT, ultra-nationalistic ideology. What you’re doing is called projection.
And by the way, I hate to break it to you but the January 6 insurrection failed and your tinfoil hat crowd couldn’t find any fraud, so they moved on to passing voter suppression laws.
Martin Niemoller might wish to have a chat with you…
Why did the Capitol police remove barricades and encourage the citizens to enter?
You won’t be getting an answer from this crowd; they’ve already consumed the leftist koolaid and are lining up to show their vax passports to any gov’t representative that inquires.
Our rights to free speech protect us from government action, not private (such as an employer for example, or neighbors). An employer, within bounds of employment law and employment contracts including union rules, can do things that government cannot. So don’t look to any Constitutional “rights” that are at stake here.
That is why, in a somewhat relevant example, an employer can require Covid vaccination while all the government can do is urge, or impose consequences on privileges, not rights.
But there are principles of fairness at stake, one of which is just how much should an employer take a stance on the personal opinions of its employees — intrude on their private lives, in other words — so long as their actual performance on the job is acceptable? They do intrude of course — drug testing being one example. Hard to say here if it was the opinions that caused this result, or how (or where) they were expressed.
I suppose the Baltimore Symphony could respond that subscriptions could be dropped or boycotts of performances organized if the opinions expressed by a prominent musician are odious enough to arouse public anger. It isn’t the musician’s job to help them sell tickets; is it their job to prevent them from losing ticket sales? Certainly professional sports teams that fire an athlete who is accused (but not yet convicted) of, say, spousal abuse take that position.
I suppose the Baltimore Symphony could also respond that extreme views might impair the ability of other members of the orchestra to work with this person so that artistic results would be impaired, but the history of orchestras is so replete with examples of wonderful orchestras made up of musicians who couldn’t stand each other and refused to talk (I won’t name names of musicians, but the Chicago Symphony has had its share) that it would be hard for them to make that particular argument without looking pretty foolish.
Orchestral musicians want to be regarded as “more” than just ensemble instrumentalists. They want a voice in running their organization. Quite right. That also means they’re representing the organization and there are responsibilities that come with that. They can’t have it both ways.
There’s “couldn’t stand each other and refused to talk” and there’s “actively putting orchestra members’ health at risk;” not quite the same thing.
Coro,
You do not have a solid understanding about what Covid is and is not. The mainstream media is not the best place to get accurate information on this topic. Try searching some reputable but less familiar news sources.
David, If the USA, Inc granted the business license then the business needs to adhere to the laws of the land. If Title VII is important in the workplace, tell me why the 1st Amendment isn’t. If No Smoking is important in the workplace, tell me why HIPPA isn’t. If gassing people to death in WWII was found to be a crime against humanity, tell me why vaccine mandates are acceptable.
TruthSeeker should go back to practicing his silent piano. He/She/It doesn’t know what the Bill of Rights actually says, and most of us do not think of QAnon as anything more than a clown show. Meanwhile, the world has moved on.
Someone needs to tell YOU that the protection of free speech outlined in the Bill of Rights applies to government. The BSO, as a private organization, is under no such requirement, and while I don’t know the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, there is probably something in there about conduct that threatens to bring the organization into disrepute.
And for Ms. Skala to be COVID-skeptical after she hasn’t been able to perform much over the past 16 months suggests a pretty high level of obtuseness, in addition to whatever other inflammatory comments she may have made.
Not even dignifying the election thing. Get over it.
It may be private, but the BSO is also a tax-free organization. It could lose its tax free status by denying the constitutional rights of its employees. That, of course, would depend on the Biden Internal Revenue Service. But, it has been done – read about the Bob Jones University case.
Actually – no, it couldn’t. The 1st Amendment governs employment by non-profits no more than it does employment by for-profits.
Wrong, 1st Amendment only applies to State and Federal governments. Profit/non-profit are irrelevent.
This is where everyone should be asking themselves, “How can that possibly be true if the government is supposed to work for us? If it truly is government of the people, by the people, and for the people how on earth could the 1st Amendment apply to State and Federal Governments rather than to people?” The States are independent entities. The Federal government answers to the States. The Federal government has only three responsibilities: to oversee wars, to try crimes of Treason and crimes of the Sea (Admiralty Law, the same as Roman Civil Law), and the third might be to print currency and to house the Treasury. I don’t clearly remember. Would have to look it up. This is to curb government over-reach Clearly something has gone wrong. We are not functioning as designed. As a Constitutional Republic.
Emily,
Even though you are correct, the Republic died a long time ago. It’s a deep state run oligarchy.
I suggest you go to the library, borrow a civics book, and read it. Forget everything you have “learned” on the internet, as what you have stated here is pretty much all incorrect.
Ms. Skala, did you enter your place of work without wearing a mask, without being vaccinated, and without being tested?
Does BSO have rules about masks, vaccinations, and testing? Did you violate those rules? Were you given warnings about these violations?
You have no idea what you’re talking about. The 1st Amendment applies to state organizations, not private. The BSO is free to fire anybody who violates the conditions of the players contract.
Who is free to fire the BSO, Inc when they violate their own CBA and in house policies? Is it unilateral or bilateral?
Bob Jones University lost its tax-exempt status because of its racially discriminatory admissions policy, not because its Constitutional rights were violated. It remains an accurate statement that First Amendment rights do not apply to provate entities.
Actually, she is governed by her contract which you have not seen. Orchestral musicians are considered “entertainers” and that typically means there is a moralities clause. Those clauses protect an organizations from a wide variety of embarrassments that could be caused by an employee. Most modern morality clauses also in the fine print includes social media. You are free to post anything you want of course, however, if the organizations deems is an embarrassment, then they have the right to fire you on the spot. It sounds like she was disciplined and then told not to do it again and she apparently did, hence the firing.
As she is unlikely unvaccinated and plays a wind instrument, it is highly unlikely anyone in that orchestra wishes to work with her. I would suggest that the union might try to help her get additional severance, but they are unlikely to ask for her reinstatement.
MacroV,
You are terribly misinformed. The Bill of Rights is for every individual man, woman, and child in this country. It is the first thing the Founding Fathers wrote when they arrived here in order to free themselves from the rule of the Crown, the edicts of King George II. Next was the Constitution. This was the moment they identified our government as “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” It remained this way up until the end of the War of Independence, which we thought we won. But owing to a back room handshake and a midnight overthrow of Congress by a cloaked faction of representatives, our government was taken away from the people and our duly elected officials who had agreed to lead by Constitution, based on Common Law (God’s Law) now would lead by Roman Civil Law, without our awareness, for the next 150 years. We never went through the Reconstruction we were meant to go through after the war. All of our illegally collected taxes went to the Crown and the Holy See (The Vatican), and the USA became a corporation. We aren’t actually American citizens. We are Territorial Citizens of the Crown or Municipal Citizens of the Holy Roman Empire. Which is why Washington, D.C. is not U.S. territory. It is the District of Columbia, named after Cristobal Columbus and people who live there are taxed without representation. We don’t really own our homes and land and cars. The Crown owns those things. We have been lied to on the very deepest level by our government. Fraud has been committed against us in every imaginable way. Slavery never ended. It merely expanded.
No, the Bill of Rights was not the first thing they wrote. It’s a set of amendments to an earlier document — how do you write amendments before that which is to be amended?
Here is some factual reading material for you:
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/resources/bor/timeline/
What weird parallel universe does Ms Skala inhabit? The Founding Fathers arrived in 1791? The Holy Roman Empire still exists? Common Law is God’s Law? The Crown owns our cars?
This is madness.
Biden and Harris have betrayed Democrats enough already on 3 major justifications for voting for these mentally unstable oafs.
– No more stimulus (or recurring which is what the left really wants).
– No total student loan relief.
– No general extension of the CDC eviction moratorium. Biden folded and Pelosi said “it’s not even a question” just like her own mass homelessness issues in San Francisco. The CDC (on its own) did a sad ‘targeted extension’ for a paltry 2 months. Foreclosed and evicted Americans will be instant Republicans now. Sure can’t trust the left!
Legitimate election results aside, the Democrats have no reason to support a bipolar man and schizophrenic woman who run away from their promises.
Well being that they’ve only been in office for 6 month I think it’s a premature to make any sort of judgement, let alone calling it failed, of this administration.
As someone who knows the musicians in Baltimore personally, I can honestly say you are overreacting. The social media posts were just the tip of the iceberg for Emily’s firing. Any company who did not fire someone for doing what she did over years is not protecting their employees properly. Norman is classically commenting with little information and making assumptions about the nature of her dismissal. Next time, do more research or simply report the story.
Who the heck are you, Mike? And I would watch out that you are not setting yourself up for a defamation suit. What you are implying is pure fiction. I have been a target for a number of years, gaslighted by colleagues. Whatever you think I have done is in their imaginations. Show me the evidence before you go spouting off in public. This is your official warning. I’m putting you on warning to cease and desist.
you sure you would want to file a defamation suit? Do you really want to go through discovery?
I’ll make popcorn.
“Fraudulent election?” It is frightening to watch individuals like you, not to mention much of one of the 2 major parties in the USA abandon our Constitution.
Didn’t the Electoral College elect Mr. Biden as our President? Didn’t 60 state and federal courts (including many judges appointed by former President Trump) reject challenges to the popular vote outcome? Didn’t the Department of Justice during the Trump Administration investigate claims of widespread fraud and find no evidence to support them?
If you do not recognize the legitimacy of our President Joe Biden, if you reject the rulings of our courts and the vote of the Electoral College, then you reject the rule of law and our constitution itself. That is the road to a failed and lawless state, to warlords and despots, to destruction of the American way of life and civil society.
I have faith the American people will not let such chaos come about. We will stand with the Founding Fathers in supporting the Constitutional Republic they designed. But apparently that will be without the support of people like you.
Will, there is more to the Constitutional election process than what you have mentioned here.
The Director of National Intelligence is required to present to the President of the United States, within a finite number of days (44), a report from each of the 17 intelligence agencies, collated, which verifies whether or not there was any interference, foreign and/or domestic, in the National elections. This date was December 17th, 2020. At this point, there are a handful of people who know the truth.
Then, on January 6th, Congress is supposed to vote to verify the Electoral College outcome. I am certain we all remember this. But if this outcome does not comport with the Constitution and the law, the Vice President is the final checkpoint. He was supposed to have vetoed any outcome that did not reflect the TRUTH which was documented in the DNI report. This did not happen this year as it should have. As a result, the original Electoral College results stood, despite overwhelming evidence – which everyone in Europe was watching live on TV on 11/4 while we were still sleeping. They know who is the legitimate President and we remain ignorant. But the Maricopa, AZ audit is complete. The results are ready for us.
The manner in which this took place before your very eyes and in your ears every day is through bribery, blackmail, and brainwashing.
Please give that some serious thought before you mock me some more. Look up Project Mockingbird on a search engine other than Google or Google-related. And understand more about who the Freemasons really are, and their connection to the Church of Satan, Hollywood, and corrupt world governments. Good luck and God bless us all.
Freemasons have nothing to do with Satan. They are a benevolent brotherhood that helps humanity, been that way for centuries. They are a force for good in this world helping the poor, the downtrodden, the ill and widows. Your comment is beyond the scope of reality. By the way, J.C. Bach, Mozart, Sibelius, Haydn, Berlin, Ellington and Sousa were all Master Masons. Lady, you continue to jump the shark ad nauseum infinitum.
Stolen elections certain are something that needs to be brought up.
When someone discovers that pesticides cause cancer when then being already around said political party, this doesn’t mean that anyone not with said political party (including an organic foods store) is suddenly pro pesticides.
Opening a door to snip together evidence that only favors one side, you might actually be helping to try to cover up what that side is doing, and not knowing it.
If you are going to talk about stolen elections, maybe you need to look at the amount of gerrymandering, the extent that in poorer neighborhoods there aren’t enough polls for people to vote, or how anyone ever convicted of a crime can be wiped off of the registries, or any of a whole list of people. And beyond that there is really clear evidence of stolen elections, but that doesn’t come because of the Democratic party (unless it’s that they don’t challenge it), it’s more against them: https://www.amazon.com/Election-2004-Bush-Expect-Future/dp/1586482939/ref=pd_sbs_1/136-4030865-7031562?pd_rd_w=oPfdc&pf_rd_p=0f56f70f-21e6-4d11-bb4a-bcdb928a3c5a&pf_rd_r=GQEQES0PM47PCQQDY4ZK&pd_rd_r=7f5980b9-7ad9-4ba5-aad7-5e27c704541f&pd_rd_wg=Q8tZY&pd_rd_i=1586482939&psc=1
Thank God they collate that report though. It sounds very long.
> Someone needs to tell the Baltimore Symphony that
> we have something called the United States
> Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects free
> speech.
Someone needs to tell you the Constitution does not apply to private institutions. “Congress shall make no laws…” is how the Bill of Rights begins, if you’ve ever bothered to actually read it rather than just wave it around. Congress didn’t make any laws here.
You had better finish the sentence Jenni
Constitution doesn’t protect private-sector employees, but the employer — if challenged– will have to demonstrate the harm that was imposed on them by her actions.
Another person who throws around the term free speech but has no idea what the First Amendment and free speech refer to in the Constitution.
Yet another person who throws around the term “free speech” yet has no idea what it refers to in the Constitution.
This story shows the fascist, totalitarian boot which is coming down on all of our necks [Republican Party].
Someone needs to tell the Baltimore Symphony that we have something called the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights that protects free speech [Yes, the same entities that were protected by a pro-police mob on Jan 6].
Even though the Globalist, fascist agenda has advanced, [Ron DeSantis, Rand Paul, Johnson of Wis, et al] there are more Americans than you can imagine who are willing to die rather than be stripped of these rights [if they’re red hatters/Trumpers, please speed it along].
Just watch. And by the way, I hate to break it to you but the lies around Covid and the fraudulent 2020 election will come out. [Yes, you’re right, the lie that Trump won the election and the lie that COVID is a fabrication that we need not worry about. Thanks for standing up for the truth.]
She lost the confidence of the entire orchestra who had no interest sitting next to, or nearby to her. In this instance, the union will not go out of their way for her. This is a rare instance where the firing will stick.
Save the MET
You do not know of what you speak. Best to limit your conversation to the weather at times like this.
Yeah, Emily I do and you blew it, literally.
I’m sure there may be a few orchestras out there where a majority of players don’t like a person or two:) BTW, I’d like to see some of the private emails and postings of some of you people and see if you can’t be fired. You people are disgusting.
And then some of the comments on “health safety.”
Look into a mirror, people.
The First Amendment protects your rights as against the government, not a private entity like BSO.
I don’t agree with her on Covid but she has the right to express her opinion. The BSO’s firing her for that is a serious misstep. The only things relevant are how well she plays the flute and how well she gets along with her colleagues.
If her colleagues think (or know) that she is a spreader of Covid, or advocates behavior which facilitates the spread of Covid, then I don’t think she would get along very well with said colleagues?
Are colleagues who are fearful of an illness which is 95%- 99.995% survivable, depending upon your age group, qualified to opine who is or is not a spreader of “Covid” if their area of expertise is music performance? Not medicine? Is thinking someone spreads a disease a prerequisite for social conformity or lack thereof? Like leprosy?
I don’t agree with her on her COVID views or anything about the last US election (time to move on to making things better and stop debating the past) but she has a right to express her opinion. But, the BSO is within its contractural rights to disassociate itself from someone that is doing potential harm to its reputation and brand. Standard stuff. Freedom of speech is one thing, but she did this to herself by her social media postings. This has absolutely nothing to do with her performance skills.
It is more than her idiotic views about covid. Emily has alienated most of her colleagues in the BSO and her anti-Semitic posts had something to do with it as well.
D. Forrester,
I didn’t actually post anything antisemitic. It was a comment within a post. And antisemitic is an opinion, not a fact. Did you know a Semite is a desert-dweller, or rather a tribe of people from the desert, like the Palestinians? They need to have Hebrew DNA to be a true Semite, and dark skin. The term “antisemite” was a made-up term, by a Jewish journalist, for a German newspaper, in the mid-1930s. Much the way “conspiracy theory” was a term made up by the CIA after JFK’s assassination, and “anti-vaccination” was made up by the pharmaceutical companies. In other words, the very people who want you to buy into their crimes sell you the cancel culture. Think Facebook, Twitter, YouTube…
Emily, I’m rooting for you, but this is not the time to elaborate on or justify your beliefs. You are just going farther down a hole.
These are controversial topics & too easily misunderstood. Everything you say is going to be held against you at this point. It’s too late to try to prove your views. That ship has sailed. You are just proving that Baltimore made the right decision when you try to explain your ideas.
Just stop talking about this stuff NOW. You’re not going to save anyone, or convince anyone. You are just doing yourself more harm.
Please. I am a friend you’ve never met. Listen to me. Stop talking. Get a lawyer and let the lawyer defend you.
I guess she’ll be teaching more at Peabody. Assuming she can get students.
Or she can walk across the street and take part in the Covid testing at Johns Hopkins.
(Dear Reader, did you notice I wrote “Johns” and not “John”!)
That is if Johns Hopkins doesn’t make vaccinations mandatory for faculty, staff and students.
Sir David Geffen-Hall,
We all know what you have to do to be knighted by the crown. At least I do. Please do not pretend to be on a pedestal. Your mistress no longer walks upon this earth plane. And I am glad not to teach at Johns Hopkins institute any more where I am not appreciated for my excellence and where only mediocrity or youth and cluelessness and the silent generations are sought these days. Gone are the previous excellent faculty, forced out by a NWO plan, executed by, I’m guessing, a Freemason or two or three or four or…
Emily, face it you will be teaching out of your home on Zoom. No one will want to send their child to you for face to face lessons. You blew your career, which at one time must have mattered. There are times to speak up and times to keep ones thoughts to ones self. You have not taught anyone anything on the subject of the pandemic and have created a ton of ill will. Best of luck in your new career, at least for the time being the flute is not going to be a way for you to pay the mortgage.
Do you not know what David Geffen Hall is?
Do you really think this poster has been knighted by HMQ?
Do you actually know anything if it is not discussed on Tik-Tok?
Her stands on Covid are outrageous and I would think good reason for dismissal because her position may endanger the audience and the orchestra. The last sentence in your article is completely irrelevant.
This is also irrelevant: “Emily Skala is an occasional commenter on slippeddisc.com. Her observations, which are sometimes challenging, have never gone beyond the bounds of reasonable expression and discussion.” But what she has posted on Covid is wrong and damaging. Other posts are not germane.
There is no proof that she was fired over her social media. You have no knowledge of her behavior in rehearsal or any other issues that may have led to her firing. The title of this post is misleading and just is reinforcing a false narrative.
There were for sure a lot of other things at play, it seems for her firing. But he did get you to read the article…he is like the National Enquirer….sort of the truth.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-fe-bso-fires-flutist-20210803-lech6hmo2ja7vopa2miez5usku-story.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/emily-skala-baltimore-symphony-orchestra-flutist-fired-conspiracy-theories/
Social media will be the death of civilization.
It’s destroying how a society function, how people relate to each other IRL (god I hate these f*cking acronyms), and is directly contributing or causing destruction, mayhem, and untold deaths around the world. But people are addicted to it and refuse to acknowledge their utter reliance and enslavement to these platforms.
It was certainly the death of her career.
I hear the fife and drum corps is hiring – perhaps she might seek employment there?
The US fife & drum corp is called the “Old Guard” & it’s part of the US Army. The age limit is 35. Most orchestras worldwide have similar age limits. Emily Skala is 59.
That’s unfortunate. Her views would fit in marvelously with that organization.
And it probably pays better than Baltimore Symphony!
Quite correct.
I heard them perform a few years ago, and they were amazing. All of the premier military ensembles in D.C. are top notch!
I don’t really know enough to register an opinion on whether she should have been fired, but you can see more on her comments, which stem from February 15 or 16, by doing a search. They are not just skepticism on COVID measures as mentioned above, but posts about how the virus was created at UNC and shipped to Wuhan, etc. and the by now obligatory stuff about the election being somehow fraudulent.
I thought their principal oboe had made more headlines?
That was true, until recently :-/
You should check her Facebook page …
You mean the oboist, right? I looked & didn’t find anything controversial. *shrug*
Why not?
Her brilliance precedes her everywhere…
Let’s say it again all together, because apparently we’ve forgotten already: she is not being prosecuted or jailed. She is not being prevented from saying whatever she wants to say. Simply, a private corporation has the right to require certain behavioural standards from its employees, whether at work or outside. It has the right to disassociate itself from employees who do not meet these standards. Repeating completely debunked (and very harmful) conspiracy theories is very reasonable grounds for dismissal.
Far too nuanced for this largely right-wing crowd.
I understand the implications of excusing a competent performer not for musical but social reasons; do you?
People like you still believe Hillary won in 2016.
Leftists are fantasists.
Sweetie, no one said or is currently saying Hillary won in 2016. Not even Hillary. Stop fabricating things.
Dearest angel, most leftists clung desperately to the notion of Russian conspiracy as the reason Trump won.
Honey Lamb…with good reason. However, the result was the result. And look what that got us.
that’s the most idiotic strawman argument I’ve seen in a long time.
Oh, wow, that is about the lamest rebuttal I’ve seen in a long time. Solid D-minus. Not even worthy of a response. But while I’m here anyway: Hillary lost in 2016, and Trump lost in 2020… them’s the facts, baby.
Hillary did not win, unless you count having gotten the most votes as winning. You know, like in a democracy.
Good thing that is boy how presidential elections are won.
Considering 1/2 the country would like more information about the recounts of in several areas of the country, does it strike anyone as odd that there is no MSM coverage?
Hillary conceded immediately and never said anything about fraud of any kind. She sucked it up and went for a hike in the woods. If only Trump would do the same.
True North writes: “Repeating completely debunked (and very harmful) conspiracy theories is very reasonable grounds for dismissal.”
Not exactly true in most civilised countries. In many places, the employer would also have to demonstrate that publically repeating such views could reasonably be held to be harmful to the organisation for the person to be fired. We have to tolerate “nutters with typewriters” in many places (perhaps on balance, a good thing).
For what it’s worth, she wrote that the virus was:
“created in a lab at UNC” – yes, in North Carolina – and “sold to a lab in Wuhan, China” and then “planted in the marketplace 300 yards away.”
She has no evidence for this. It is fake news, not even an opinion, and she brings the orchestra into disrepute.
Free speech has not been banned. She can say whatever she wants, but must accept the consequences.
There is evidence for this. There are patents that were filed. You need to do more research.
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
Hundreds of patents show SARS-CoV-2 is a manmade virus that has been tinkered with for decades. Much of the research was funded by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under the direction of Dr. Anthony Fauci, and may have been an outgrowth of attempts to develop an HIV vaccine
In 1999, Fauci funded research at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill to create “an infectious replication-defective coronavirus” specically targeted for human lung epithelium. This appears to be the virus that became known as SARS-CoV
–
U.S. Patent 7279327 shows we knew the ACE receptor, the ACE2 binding domain, the S-1 spike protein, and other elements of SARS-CoV-2 were engineered and could be synthetically modied using gene sequencing technologies
The CDC holds patents to a SARS coronavirus that is 89% to 99% identical to the sequence identied as SARS-CoV-2, as well as the PCR test to diagnose it
120 patents detail supposed “unique” features of SARS-CoV-2: the polybasic cleavage site, the spike protein and the ACE2 binding, proving it’s not a novel virus at all
In a January 2021 lecture, Jonathan Latham, Ph.D., introduced the term “the pandemic virus industrial complex,” to describe the academic, military and commercial complexes that are driving the pandemic agenda and obscuring facts that indicate SARS-CoV-2 is a manmade virus.
Violinmaven, thank you!
So you consider that’s worth removing someone’s livelihood for? Unbelievable.
La plus belle voix,
I don’t personally have the evidence for this, no, that is correct, but the evidence has been shown to many of us. It is available to those who know where to find it. Just because you are unaware of it does not nullify its existence. I have never heard a more ignorant argument. But I have heard plenty similar such arguments in the past year and a half.
By the way, if speech has consequences, by definition it is not free.
Everything has consequences. What are you, 10?
…but then she says covid doesn’t exist and is normal flu!
Get woke or go broke.
She doesn’t swallow the globalist crap good for her, shame on the philharmonic administration, don’t like free speech move out
The BSO loves free speech, they love it so much they exercised their 1st amendment right to protect the organization without fear of being penalized by any governmental body…
Globalist is a well know code word for Jewish. I’m sure you know that, right?
Covid is a red flag attack, the new 911, but you wouldn’t know
I suspect there is more going on here than Ms. Skala’s social media posts. It sounds like her views on vaccination and other matters are extraordinarily distasteful, but if she wishes to prove herself an idiot by spreading her conspiratorial views as widely as possible, she’s harming herself more than anyone else. If, however, her actual behavior towards her colleagues is increasing their COVID risk through refusal to comply with health protocols, that’s a horse of a different color. And it sounds like she may have been reproved in the past for things totally unrelated to COVID. So, I don’t think I’ll shed too many tears for her losing her job. In fact, she’ll probably end up increasing her net wealth after this because there’s always profit to be made by hopping on the Trump grift train and playing victim for white nationalists.
A lot of the folks on here need basic civics lessons in American government; Ms. Skala has a constitutional right to share her opinions, but she does not have a constitutional right to be employed by the BSO. Reputational damage to one’s employer can and does have consequences.
Euphonium AI,
We all have a Constitutional right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. None of those three things come without a job. So, yes, I have a Constitutionally protected right to a that job. We all have a right to a job. And the CBA further protects me, and so ought tenure protect me. When I file my appeal today, the Union will stand behind me.
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” appears nowhere in the text of the US Constitution. It is from the Declaration of Independence, a document which grants you no rights whatsoever.
I haven’t seen such nonsense since Terry Lakin. He hired for his attorney someone who specialized in dog bite cases, with the outcome being about what you would expect (he switched lawyers mid-court martial to someone who saved his goose from a long prison term, but he still lost a 7-figure pension and served time in the Leavenworth barracks). Maybe you will choose more wisely. Be sure to make your COBRA payments and sign up for health coverage through the ACA, if appropriate.
We do not have a right to a job. Whether we like it or not we can be fired.
OK, so now we have a 59 year old flutist who’s worked at the same job for 33 yrs. who has lost her job, her income, her pension & will probably be out on the street with all the other people who suddenly can’t pay their rent or mortgage. How does this help anything?
To win a job as a Principal Flutist is a near impossible feat even for someone in their 20’s. To do it successfully for 33 years is another achievement. Now we have a woman just a few years away from retirement who’s, what, suddenly expected to find another Principal Flute position? No orchestra will hire a 59 year old.
Orchestral musicians, esp. older ones, simply do not have skills which translate well into other types of employment. It appears that her teaching opportunities are also being vetoed. I’ve read about some older orch. players who become real estate agents. I guess she could do that.
But basically, all this has done is put a 59 yr. old woman who’s just a few yrs. away from retirement and with limited job skills outside of playing in an orchestra and teaching, and what sounds like not a solid grip on the real world, into the street with no prospects, no income and no pension.
Where is the Union? What is Baltimore Symphony thinking? Regardless of her political views, this is simply inhumane on any level.
“Regardless of her political views, this is simply inhumane on any level.”
And so is her attitude toward Covid, IMHO.
Sure, but throwing a middle aged woman into the street without a settlement or pension is a pretty medieval punishment for that, isn’t it?
I feel no pity for her. She was warned, she ignored those warnings and was awarded employment termination for her efforts. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
One thing to possibly keep in mind is that she’s been drawing a principal salary from the Baltimore Symphony for 30+ years. She’s probably not penniless.
Yeah, but hasn’t she been on unpaid leave for like 19 months? I think Peabody let her go a while ago so no teaching income.
A crime against covid-think? How dreadful.
Maybe you should actually find out some facts about the full range of this person’s antics before you start making accusations of “inhumane.” You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.
Josh, please read my post below about alternative solutions Baltimore Symphony could have employed with Skala for exactly the same result. Absolutely nothing she could have done would make Baltimore’s stone cold firing her after 33 yrs. a “humane” solution.
Her termination almost certainly did not result in the loss of her pension. The normal vesting period is 5 years and she’s clearly exceeded that. It’s almost impossible to deprive someone of a pension once they’ve fully vested. And that’s a good thing.
I think she has to be 65 or at least 62 to collect it, though. Def 62 for Social Security. And you’re penalized if you take it that soon even if u qualify.
OK, I just checked my AFM pension guidelines & you may be right. They list 2 catagories of eligibility: 1. when you reach your Normal Retirement Age (gen. 65) while still an active member & 2. you reach age 55, are vested and retire from all Covered Employment.
I just hope the Union will allow this to be considered a “retirement” at 59 and not consider her to be an active member trying to retire prematurely.
But for Social Security she is definitely out of luck. There’s no way can she claim that before 62.
My post is clearly in response to TuttiFlutie, not to the highly knowledgable Robert Levine.
For the down thumbers: there are more discrete and compassionate solutions which could have been taken by Baltimore Symphony which would have achieved exactly the same result. The Union should have negotiated this.
Skala could have been offered a settlement to leave. She could have been put on obligatory sick leave with the requirement to get psychological help for her issues. She could have been encouraged to take a permanent psychiatric disability. She could have negotiated for a leave of absence which might have extended until she could collect a pension of some kind. This whole thing could have & should have been kept out of the press.
There were many more elegant, thoughtful solutions to this problem other than just sacking this woman at the end of her career and then announcing it headlines in the press the next day. That is savage and unrefined and completely tasteless, despite any circumstances.
Baltimore Symphony blatantly pandered to social media pressure. As an employer, they have shown a shocking lack of compassion for an employee of 33 years, no matter what her political views are. Baltimore Symphony’s actions are not at all in keeping with a cultural organization which allegedly promotes a refined art form.
Or she could have paid attention as the orchestra imposed disciplinary actions on her multiple times, and cleaned up her act, and/or found a job working where such viewpoints are not unwelcome. It’s no one’s fault but her own that she made the career decisions that may make a new job in the same line of work difficult or impossible to obtain.
No. She knew perfectly well what she was doing. She had plenty of opportunity to remedy her behaviour. Her dismissal is nobody’s fault but her own. Plain stupidity is not a mental illness. It does not merit special treatment.
There is more to this than anyone’s “social media pressure”. However, what would at one time have been “green room gossip” or “back stage banter” between colleagues is now often impulsively broadcast to the world through Twitter and Facebook, with no context provided, and with predictably damaging results.
discreet*
Where is this totally ignorant assertion about her losing her pension coming from? If you are that concerned about pension conditions, please take a moment to find out what they are. After 33 years, she has 33 years worth of pension benefits, subject to age stipulations about when she may begin to receive them. Period.
Daphnis, right. “Subject to age stipulations about when she may begin to receive them”. Kind of a big deal and ignorant of you to make light of it. If she’s 59 and she can’t start receiving her pension for the next 6 years she’s in trouble. She’s lost her pension during that time. Fortunately, it looks like AFM has an option to begin collecting at 55.
“Daphnis” – very little is “ignorant’ in a situation like this. How rude of you to use that term.
She hasn’t “lost her pension during that time” because her pension was never going to pay her during those years. She did lise the opportunity to contribute to that pension during those years, however, because she lost her job.
She could get a job at Fox News.
She said that the Jews secretly engineered their own destruction (the Holocaust) That’s right up there with, “the blacks actually benefited from slavery.”
The musicians won’t admit it out loud, but I bet you they are euphoric not to be working (supposedly on something creative and intimately collaborative no less) with this woman.
Where did she say that?
“She said that the Jews secretly engineered their own destruction (the Holocaust) That’s right up there with, “the blacks actually benefited from slavery.””
Any comment on this Norman?
Bill, do you have evidence of this?
As we all perhaps know people who have been seriously ill or even died from Covid-19 then it does appear that people who are spreading scepticism are somewhat unwelcome, especially if they (eg) refuse to be vaccinated or take precautions while playing in an orchestra.
M McAlpine,
Dr, Fauci did say early on that people with autoimmune disorders ought not take this vaccine.
Refusing to take the vaccine places the person not taking the vaccine at risk. It really does not particularly affect anyone else. They might be wrong not to take the vaccine, but they aren’t dangerous.
At this point, we don’t know what “the conduct for which she had been previously disciplined” consisted of. So we don’t know why she’s been fired. Nor do we know if the union will contest it.
Wow! What a bunch of BS. When will she be sent to the gulag by the Commisars? Free speech has been under attack and apparently with the communist running the Baltimore Symphony, it is dead. I really find this hard to believe. I wish the best for Emily and hope she will rise above this. Unblievable that this is the United States of America.
In addition, I hope she hires an army of lawyers and sues the BSO into oblivion.
“Unblievable” that you don’t understand that the US Constitution does not give you the absolute right to free speech, but only protects you from the government depriving you of freedom of speech. She does not work for the government, and the government did not restrict her free speech. The orchestra did not, either; they merely said that she would have to find employment elsewhere. She can still say whatever she wants.
Yeah, BSO should have had big tech delete her stuff.
Can we fire half of Congress?
That might count as unfair dismissal in the UK.
It might well do, but it depends. The employer would have to show her public expression of her views are damaging the organisation: I can’t, for instance, slag-off my employer on a public forum. But she may well have (probably has, but who knows) engaged in a lot of activity that really is both more serious and not in the public record.
At the very least it is bizarre that she chooses to come to this website to discuss her firing.
Here’s a story in Propublica : “Here Are Six Accidents UNC Researchers Had With Lab-Created Coronaviruses”
https://www.propublica.org/article/here-are-six-accidents-unc-researchers-had-with-lab-created-coronaviruses
After reading that her theory about covid doesn’t sound like a wild conspiracy theory. It sounds more like big tech and the government telling us what to think.
A lot of what she wrote about will be shown right even to to the kool aid drinkers. It will take time…
this could go to the Supreme Court.
How can they fire her for her freedom of speech rights?
They should fire her for that silly picture of her holding a flute
Sir David,
It was a fun photo project for a display in the Meyerhoff lobby. A creative project. I’m looking at a bird which has landed on my footjoint and taken me by surprise.
Emily Skala is completely insane, that’s true. But does one get fired now for just being stupid? Seems like that orchestra has a few nut jobs, look at Skala’s oboe colleague Katherine Needleman, who is now “woke”. Must be the weather or something 🙂
Ooops, WrongThink – there’s no coming back from that. Though I hoping that sometime in the future, years hence, those cancelled today will successfully sue their silencers for millions and billions and trillions of dollars.
Freewheeler, there is an appeals process first. There is always the possibility this is wrongful termination.
There is so much jumping to conclusions on this thread, my word. Of course we don’t know the full story during an active termination. It’s no small feat to fire a tenured, principal musician in a major American orchestra – the BSO didn’t do this willy nilly, and I’m sure had countless consultations with their own lawyers and representatives of the AFM who all came to the conclusion that this was an appropriate action, otherwise we would see a lot more union pushback like we did with the two men from the NY Phil.
Alfred, you are jumping to your own conclusion and it takes time for the Union to get involved in a meaningful way. The press can print a story much faster.
“Independent thinkers” are always “misunderstood,” starting with the orange and yellow clown that got thrown out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue late last year.
Voted out by registered voters would be more accurate; if only all of the voter registrations could be accounted for…what a regrettable oopsy, right?
I’m sorry, but this is still America we still have a First Amendment to the Constitution which clearly allows EVERYONE to have the ability to SPEAK THEIR OPINION. The very idea that they are “disciplining” anyone for airing any opinion on a social media platform that has NOTHING to do with that Symphony Orchestra is NOT THEIR PRIVILEGE or right to do so. Since when are they the “politically correct” police??!!! Emily can be purple with pink polkadots and she can say that anyone with blue hair is attractive to her and this Symphony cannot SAY ANYTHING or discipline her for her opinion. This is getting beyond ridiculous!! I sincerely hope that this Symphony died not program anything that isn’t P.C. or they’ll have to close the theater and Discipline the Music Director and the Board!!!! Good luck Emily!!
Here is the entire text of the Constitution on the topic at hand:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Now the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is based in Baltimore, Maryland, which is not far from Washington, D.C., where Congress performs, but that is about as close of a connection as you get here. Congress has passed no law limiting Emily Skala’s right to speak her mind. However, just as you have the right to cross the street when you see a complete nut job speaking their mind to everyone who approaches, the BSO has exercised their right to not employ someone who cannot abide by the terms of her contract. She can STILL say whatever she wants, but if she says she is the principal flute of the BSO, she will be stating an untruth.
Good news for BSO audiences is that the new principal flute will undoubtedly be better.
Better at what? Keeping his/her/their mouth shut to not offend the woke mob?
Let’s put it this way: having watched one of her recent videos on youtube, I understand why she disables commenting on those videos!
In March, she wrote to an article to the Baltimore Sun, “Why is my orchestra such a hostile workplace?”
If you are going to bash your employer then why should your employer be entitled to keep paying you a salary and keeping you onboard as an employee??
It’s just common sense!
In addition, if you worked in a high tier law firm and making these kind of comments and writing bad things about your workplace, how long would you last?
The Managing Partner would have fired you within minutes.
Well, in your hypothetical law firm, I wouldn’t be tenured and protected by a Union and a Collective Bargaining Agreement. But I was using this article as leverage to get HR to respond to me, as he had been fond of leaving me to wallow in unanswered questions. I do believe an incompetent management team which chronically endangers the well being of the organization and makes the musicians eat the costs of their failures needs to be exposed for their contributions to the failures. Be a point of light, that’s my motto.
This was not employer-bashing, but perhaps the title is the only thing you read. In this case, you should know I didn’t create the title, the Sun paper writers did. And also, you missed the point of the article. Maybe go back and try again?
You’ve learned a lesson here, perhaps. You can speak to the press, but you will not be able to control how your words and actions are presented.
Thanks for your reponse!
Points taken.
In Asia now.sooo.
Next time I am in the USA, want to get so lunch together??
Call me anytime
+819096197054
We can set up a meeting!
You are gonna an even bigger star from now!
1984
People are quibbling about her public opinions being the reason for her firing. No orchestra would fire her without a documented history of problematic behavior and you can safely assume that this is the case for Ms. Skala.
Oh really? Aren’t assumptions dangerous? I mean, it’s not exactly evidence.
My assumptions are not your problem right now, unfortunately.
Glad I’m not in the orchestra if you are a member. I’m afraid I’d check a huge doze of stupidity from you. If you’ll check what’s going on you will find that the vacinated are the ones spreading the Covid.
Oops, too late — looks like you already did “check a huge doze of stupidity” somewhere!
I shall not attend a BSO concert until she is reinstated. This a despicable act and I hope she sues the hell out of them. She has a right to free speech, period.
How many BSO concerts have you attended?
No one is stopping her from blathering on about any topic that she likes. She simply is not going to be paid by the BSO any longer. As they have disciplined her on a number of occasions, this should come as no surprise.
Welcome to most orchestras everywhere.
From the article in the Baltimore Sun: ““I’ve only ever wanted to state my truth,” she said. “I’m not going to publicize what I’m going to do, but I’m not going to sit passively by. The BSO can expect to hear from me.”
What an absolutely abysmal concept: the idea of “my truth” and “your truth” and “living one’s truth.” We hear it so much that we may be immune to just how insidious it is, coming from people’s feelings and amplified by their confirmation biases. That people applaud each other for “speaking their truth” just encourages everyone to bray their nonsense, evangelize for, be accommodated for, and howl about it. Viruses are real; they don’t give a cr@p about “your truth.”
Too right. Remember Oprah asking Meghan how the Palace would react to “your truth” — as if there were others. This is Trumpian, which will one day be a recognised word for twisted, fallacious and unreasoned spoutery
There is truth, and there is not. Emily Skala seems intimately familiar with the not.
Get your shots, folks !
Skala seems no longer to be on faculty at Peabody. I believe she hasn’t been for a while now. Not quite sure what happened there.
In one of her posts here she talks about the NWO coming for her there, or some such nonsense. If we are “lucky” she might be triggered into providing another rant about that. It’s unfortunate that she seems to have lost all of her employment, which might have given her access to insurance coverage for mental health issues.
I guess you won’t be attending a BSO concert again, then. Too bad… as someone said above, the new principal flute will undoubtedly be a better player, and, as a bonus, very likely NOT batshit crazy in the bargain.
Based on all these nonsensical comments you’d think SD readers were mostly trying to “MAGA”. These comments tend to generally be racist and illogical, but this particular post has brought out every crazy reader. Truly sickening.
This is patently false and you have a lot of nerve fabricating things like this.
What about all of the stuff you are fabricating in your comments?
“Are you now or have you ever been a supporter of Donald Trump?”
Remind you of a witch hunt led by a Wisconsin Senator named McCarthy?
This is unacceptable. #resist
Ha ha ha.
Pathetic to force and reinforce mainstream opinion.
You all lack courage.
Because yes, it takes courage to NOT swim with those good people who are busy with their own self-eradication under the guise of moral superiority.
Oh calm down: yes of course you are all right and on the good side. I wouldn’t want to be be harassed for having the wrong opinions, right…
Now that I just found out that we, the United States, are owned by Great Britain, I promise to be much nicer and subordinate to Norman Lebrecht, his website, and our rulers in Great Britain in the future. My country, the United States (privately owned subsidiary of her Majesty the Queen), does not intend to be offensive. We, the US, do not try to be so ridiculous. Unfortunately, we are too damned good at it.