The cost and duration of a sacked pianist’s case against the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is set to blow out following a Federal Court decision to accommodate a defence that includes 20 witnesses for the orchestra.
Pianist Jayson Gillham’s case against the MSO has been pushed back from one week in January next year to three weeks in May. To be heard in the Federal Court, that makes it a big – and very expensive – undertaking for all parties. Junior silks can command up to $9500 a day, while the country’s top silks can charge up to $25,000 a day.
Pianist Jayson Gillham.
Gillham is suing for wrongful dismissal for expression of political opinion under the Fair Work Act. In August 2024, he appeared at an MSO recital in Melbourne as a guest pianist, when he introduced a new piece of music, dedicating it to “more than 100 Palestinian journalists” killed in Gaza.
He went on to say: “A number of these have been targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing press jackets. The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world.”
Called Witness, the work by local composer Connor D’Netto was written for those slain journalists and was a late inclusion in the event program. Between 150 and 200 people attended the recital.
The MSO cancelled its next event at which Gillham was scheduled to perform, and released a statement saying his comments were not appropriate and “an intrusion of personal political views”. It later said it had made an error in cancelling Gillham’s shows.
Former managing director of the MSO Sophie Galaise, now based in Canada, is likely to be an unwilling witness, according to the judgement. Credit: Laura Manariti
Days after the initial incident, MSO musicians sent a vote of no confidence to the board, requesting the removal of managing director Sophie Galaise and chief operating officer Guy Ross, and asking for an independent review of what had happened.
Arnold Bloch Leibler is acting for the MSO and plans to call 20 witnesses in the case, including six current and former board directors, seven current and former members of the MSO’s executive leadership team, and one adviser. The MSO was contacted on Wednesday but declined to comment.
Michael Bradley of Marque Lawyers, who represents Gillham, says the case “is testing the limits of protections for employees in terms of freedom to express their opinions, especially for artists”.
“Bear in mind that this wasn’t a random statement, it was part of his performance of his piece. Jayson Gillham was introducing a piece for the specific purpose of his art.”
The MSO performing during NAIDOC Week this year. Credit: Nico Keenan
The MSO spent $689,000 on legal costs in 2024, and a further $954,000 on governance restructuring and redundancy payouts, much of which can be traced to the Gillham affair.
Parallels have been drawn between his case and Antoinette Lattouf’s case against the ABC, which ultimately resulted in the national broadcaster being ordered to pay $150,000 to the journalist for her unlawful termination and then a further $70,000 in compensation to her for non-economic loss.
The Federal Court found Lattouf’s termination was unlawful for several reasons, including that it was motivated by her expressing a political opinion, in contravention of the Fair Work Act 2009.
Gillham reached an in-principle settlement with Galaise, one of the original respondents in the case, in March. Ross remains as a respondent.
It is unclear exactly who within the MSO made the decision to remove Gillham from his next slated appearance, or how many complaints the orchestra received after the recital.
Galaise was sacked by the MSO board in the wash-up of the incident and a settlement was made between her and the organisation for an undisclosed amount; both parties are bound by confidentiality agreements. Now based in Canada, where she is originally from, Galaise is described as a critical witness and “unlikely to be a willing witness”, according to Justice Debra Mortimer’s judgment this month.
Justice Mortimer said the focus of the trial would be “who made the decisions and why”.
In posts to Instagram on Wednesday, Gillham said: “I am fighting for freedom of expression for all artists – which I believe is fundamental to artistic integrity – and for the right of all employees and contractors to express their political belief in the workplace without fear of discrimination.”
The London-based, Queensland-raised pianist is internationally renowned and has been outspoken about Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. He has made an appeal online for people to contribute to his legal costs via a crowdfunding campaign called ‘Stand up for Free Speech & Artistic Freedom’. To date, it has raised $115,600.
At the top of the fundraiser, Gillham says: “I was silenced for speaking the truth – that Israel targets journalists.”
Israel rejects the allegation that it has targeted journalists in Gaza.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
