An opera conductor who was sacked after a student complained about his “use of pronouns” has won an unfair dismissal case.
Mark Shanahan was accused of “intimidating, bullying and possibly discriminatory” behaviour towards young musicians at the National Opera Studio (NOS), an employment tribunal heard.
Following a string of complaints, Mr Shanahan was dismissed as head of music for the London studio.
The NOS’s past students include Alfie Boe and Wynne Evans, the Welsh singer competing in the current series of Strictly Come Dancing who plays Gio Compario in Go Compare adverts.
A hearing in south London was told that Mr Shanahan began working as head of music at the NOS in 2010 but was dismissed in 2021.
The studio is responsible for the training of about 12 singers each academic year, and Mr Shanahan was an “internationally recognised conductor and coach”, the tribunal heard.
However, Emily Gottlieb, the chief executive, said that during his time there were several complaints about him.
Referenced George Floyd
Employment Judge Alison Frazer said: “[Ms Gottlieb] formed the view that those complaints formed a pattern of behaviour and that the nature of the behaviour was that it was intimidating, bullying and possibly discriminatory, which was contrary to the organisation’s code of conduct and its values as an organisation.”
Ms Gottlieb called a meeting with Mr Shanahan in March 2021 in which she referenced George Floyd and the MeToo movement during the discussion.
Judge Frazer said minutes of the meeting showed Ms Gottlieb was attempting to tell the conductor, that “we are living in a different world now where people are likely to call out behaviours”.
He was also questioned over the use of pronouns “in respect of a young artist who had just commenced training”.
Mr Shanahan denied bullying. He told the hearing the pronoun issue was “resolved to the satisfaction of everyone concerned”.
During the meeting, Mr Shanahan asked his boss what the possible outcome could be and she told him: “It would likely be you leaving the organisation but on terms that were more favourable than leaving with dismissal and without pay.”
The following weekend the conductor was suspended amid an investigation into the complaints which also explored “conduct and behaviour that have the potential to bring the studio into disrepute”.
Mr Shanahan was dismissed on Sept 3, 2021.
‘Contributed to the dismissal’
He launched legal action, claiming that the decision to investigate him was “an effort to manufacture a purportedly fair reason for dismissal”.
The conductor’s claims were upheld but he was told his compensation would be reduced by 15 per cent because he had “contributed to the dismissal by blameworthy conduct”.
The panel also dismissed age discrimination.
Mr Shanahan was born in Manchester where he attended the Chetham’s School of Music.
He later attended the University of London and studied conducting at the Royal Academy of Music. While there he won the first prize of the first NAYO Conducting Competition.
He has conducted orchestras around the world including at the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall.
He is a guest professor of conducting at the Royal Academy, guest conductor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.