James Levine Sues Metropolitan Opera

By Francisco Salazar

Conductor James Levine has sued the Metropolitan Opera.

The AP reported that Levine opted to sue the opera company on Thursday after a sexual misconduct investigation that ended in the conductor being fired.

According to Levine’s representative the company “exploited baseless allegations to tarnish him and then fired him without so much as a phone call. The lawsuit accuses the company and Gelb of defamation and breach of contract and it seeks at least $5.8 million in damages and “to restore Levine’s name, reputation and career.”

Levine’s lawsuit stated, “The Met and its general manager Peter Gelb, cynically hijacking the good will of the #MeToo movement, brazenly seized on these allegations as a pretext to end a longstanding personal campaign to force Levine out of the Met.”

Peter Gelb and the Metropolitan Opera have yet to respond but the Met noted on Monday that after an investigation the company had found evidence of sexual and abusive harassment.

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