BEGINNING TO TALK ABOUT MY EEOC CHARGE
I mean, for real. And in detail.
The first question most anyone who is trying to have a real conversation with me about being the Queen of Filth/Operator of Feminazi Facebook asks is “why?” They want to know why anyone would willingly embark on doing what I’ve been doing. First off, a lot of people hate you, say shit about you, and tell other people not to hire you/speak to you/acknowledge your existence. The easy answer is that I see a connection between my own experiences in music and deeply systemic problems, and that I want things to be better. But there are of course, easier and gentler ways to try to make things better, and I was always inclined to those rather than “the nuclear option.”
I did, ultimately, select the nuclear option under great duress when I filed an EEOC charge in September, 2018, and went public about it. By “going public,” I mean, I let the news media cover it. And the news media is painted into a real corner about what they can publish about “allegations.” They really only published what my employer and I agreed upon, so very little of the story got out there.
The story is complicated to tell. It doesn’t fit in a nice, neat paragraph. It sits nicely in centuries of misogyny, in an industry that embraces its backwardness, and with a large side of gaslighting. I’m going to start by telling it here, and not for everyone. I’ll see how this goes first and where it gets me. Even I am not ready to put everything on full display yet.
I will start by sharing my EEOC charge which was filed September 17, 2018. I have obtained this document through the freedom of information act.
My admiration for your courage and bravery continues to grow.
This charge paints a damning picture of your orchestra and the mismanagement of your harassment. Breaking orchestral cultural rules (ex: all the power shenanigans around the giving of the a), is REALLY difficult to explain outside of our very small, weird culture.
To me, it sounds as if your orchestra administrators were in thrall of his power, too.
In watching harassment in my own orchestra, I find there are periods of peace followed by BS followed by seeming peace followed by more BS……and so it continues…..it’s very cyclical.
I’ve often wondered how you find the energy to be such a badass advocate.
I think understand now? You are standing up with your big voice for the amazing Katherine Needleman that endured this egregious behaviour for so many years. Your advocacy is therapy? I love it. It’s like watching healing in civic action. May your brave actions bring you some measure of peace for all you have gone through.
BE the change you’d like to see in the world. Thank you, Katherine.
Thanks so much for sharing this. This story is an accumulation of aggressions rather than a single terrible assault. Accumulations can be much harder to explain.