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Three musicians fired from the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 filed a lawsuit in August to get their jobs back.
Now, lawyers for the symphony, its executive director and the state-owned firm backing the orchestra say the lawsuit should be dismissed because it was filed too late and because it falsely claims the symphony is part of the state government.
Responses to the lawsuit were filed in federal court in Raleigh on Nov. 3.
The lawsuit was filed through two trumpeters and a violinist who “could not receive the COVID-19 vaccine without compromising their faith. “They asked for exemptions to the symphony’s vaccination requirement for devout reasons.
Symphony President and CEO Sandi Macdonald denied his request. In letters to musicians in September 2021, Macdonald said the waivers would cause “undue hardship” to an orchestra whose musicians will have to rehearse and perform in close proximity to each other.
Macdonald wrote that “it would be highly unlikely to maintain the social distancing that would be required under applicable CDC rules for an unvaccinated user in those settings, on stage, backstage, and on buses as we travel across the state to fulfill our mission. “
Macdonald put musicians on unpaid leave for the 2021-2022 season and gave them until April 1, 2022, to get vaccinated, according to the symphony’s reaction to the lawsuit. Once this period had elapsed, the musicians were informed of their dismissal as of June 30.
Later that summer and fall, each musician filed separate court cases with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. U. S. Attorney General’s Office alleges religious discrimination. On June 4, 2023, the EEOC issued “right to sue” letters, stating that it had decided there were grounds to pursue discrimination prosecutions.
Lawyers for Macdonald and Symphony Counter argue that the musicians waited too long to face the EEOC and that, as a result, the lawsuit was dismissed.
The musicians’ lawsuit refers to Macdonald’s September 2021 ruling to deny the waiver as “preliminary. “He said Macdonald promised to meet with the musicians until April 1, 2022, to “discuss whether the symphony could welcome them after that date. “
But in their response, lawyers for Macdonald and the symphony orchestra say nothing in the letters recommending the denial of the waiver was preliminary. They say Macdonald only promised if the musicians complied with the vaccine mandate in April, not to reconsider their request. for exemptions.
Federal law gives someone 180 days to file a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. If the musicians were discriminated against, that’s when Macdonald denied the exemption in September 2021, the symphony’s lawyers write. Instead, they waited to be fired, which lawyers say is too overdue for their case to be considered through the EEOC or the court.
The other explanation for the court’s dismissal of the lawsuit, the symphony’s lawyers say, is that it falsely alleges discrimination by state government agents, namely the symphony and its executive leader.
The lawsuit describes the many tactics that the state and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources oversee the symphony. The governor, for example, appoints four members to the orchestra’s board of directors, and in recent years, the state has provided a third of its budget. Several high-level symphonic painters paint for the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Harmeet Dhillon, founder and executive director of the Center for American Liberty, the nonprofit that filed the complaint, pointed to the connection with the government.
“The Constitution promises religious freedom,” Dhillon said in an August brief. “But if government agencies can force Americans to choose between keeping their jobs and staying true to their religious beliefs, our highest fundamental freedoms will be threatened. “
But proponents of the symphony argue that it is a government enterprise and that Macdonald is a state employee. Despite state support, the symphony is controlled through the N. C. Symphony Society Inc. , a personal nonprofit organization founded in 1933, and Macdonald worked for the society.
The lawyers cite evidence of the symphony’s independence from the state, adding the fact that the corporation elects most of its board members and that musicians belong to a union, something state workers can do under North Carolina law.
The musicians’ demand is also directed at the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The ministry also asked the federal court to dismiss the case on the grounds that the musicians painted for the state.
The lawsuit was filed through violinist Dovid Friedlander, who is Jewish, and trumpeters Chris Caudill and Rachel Niketopoulos, a Buddhist couple.
The lawsuit claims that Friedlander believes his body is as God intended it to be and that he is taking medication or vaccines. He says that because of his Buddhist faith, Caudill and Niketopoulos did not test any products on animals, as did the COVID-19 vaccines.
The lawsuit alleges that the symphony orchestra and Macdonald destroyed their careers and livelihoods by firing them.
“The network of orchestras is tight-knit and jobs in the orchestras are very competitive,” the lawsuit states. “It’s hard to overstate the devastating financial and emotional consequences of his termination. “
The lawsuit says the symphony lifted its vaccine mandate this summer but invited all three musicians to return. The lawsuit asks a federal court to order the symphony to rehire them, as well as pay damages and legal fees.