I have heard the excuses more times than I care to count: it’s the institution that needs our protection, i.e. no matter what happens, don’t let word get out or the orchestra itself is in jeopardy AND all your colleagues will hate you for it. So the “logic,” if you can call it that, is that the person who blows the whistle, the victim, the wronged party, is the one bringing the institution down, not the perpetrator. This attitude is maddening and the results are absolutely tragic.
This email so perfectly captures the trap that victims are in. "I am not interested in accusations; that will be determined" means shut up and don't hurt the organization until it's been proven. But proven by what? A criminal conviction? An internal investigation? But you cannot have that determination made until you make the accusation. So under this reasoning, unless MAYBE you have the rape on video, you literally cannot ever make an accusation.
And just as many BFM are saying that this type of thing has never happened in their orchestras. They don't even pause to ask if human dignity can be assailed in countless ways beyond this example.
I have heard the excuses more times than I care to count: it’s the institution that needs our protection, i.e. no matter what happens, don’t let word get out or the orchestra itself is in jeopardy AND all your colleagues will hate you for it. So the “logic,” if you can call it that, is that the person who blows the whistle, the victim, the wronged party, is the one bringing the institution down, not the perpetrator. This attitude is maddening and the results are absolutely tragic.
This email so perfectly captures the trap that victims are in. "I am not interested in accusations; that will be determined" means shut up and don't hurt the organization until it's been proven. But proven by what? A criminal conviction? An internal investigation? But you cannot have that determination made until you make the accusation. So under this reasoning, unless MAYBE you have the rape on video, you literally cannot ever make an accusation.
Myers in a way is more disappointing, seeming to respond with encouragement before turning into an active accomplice. Depressing.
Are the unions getting on the right side of this pretty uniformly?
And just as many BFM are saying that this type of thing has never happened in their orchestras. They don't even pause to ask if human dignity can be assailed in countless ways beyond this example.
yeah, Phil Smith is quite the company man. the institution gets protected before the individual. it's so wrong.