{"id":790464,"date":"2026-07-10T02:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790464\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T02:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:34:16","slug":"pianist-jayson-gillham-loses-discrimination-case-against-melbourne-symphony-orchestra-over-gaza-comments-melbourne-symphony-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790464\/","title":{"rendered":"Pianist Jayson Gillham loses discrimination case against Melbourne symphony orchestra over Gaza comments | Melbourne Symphony Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"

A classical pianist who sued the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra<\/a> has lost his case after alleging he was unlawfully discriminated against because of his views on Israeli forces killing Palestinian journalists.<\/p>\n

The federal court justice Graeme Hill handed down his findings on Friday, saying workplace protections were not extended to Jayson Gillham due to his status as an independent contractor. The judge ruled that the orchestra had acted legitimately to protect its business.<\/p>\n

Gillham sued the MSO over a Melbourne<\/a> concert he was contracted to perform on 15 August 2024, but which the MSO cancelled. Gillham claimed that it was an attempt to silence him over his political views.<\/p>\n

During a performance four days earlier, the pianist had played a short piece called Witness, composed by multimedia artist Connor D\u2019Netto, which he dedicated to Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

Introducing the work, Gillham told the audience that more than 100 Palestinian journalists had been killed and that the targeting of journalists in a conflict was a war crime under international law.<\/p>\n

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Hill said on Friday that the \u201cpolitical content\u201d of Gillham\u2019s remarks was not a \u201csubstantial and operative reason\u201d for the actions MSO took afterwards. Instead, he found that the orchestra had acted within the law to protect its own business and reputation.<\/p>\n

He also said there was a \u201ccustom or practice\u201d that performers should not make statements on sensitive political or social issues from the stage without permission.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough these events are bound up with the Israel-Gaza conflict, it is not any part of my role to enter upon those matters of considerable public controversy,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find that the MSO would have taken the same actions if Mr Gillham had expressed a political belief in support of Israel, or if Mr Gillham had made statements on any other topic that had the same impact or anticipated impact on the MSO\u2019s business and reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill ruled against Gillham\u2019s argument that Victoria\u2019s Equal Opportunity Act was effectively a workplace law that prohibited an employer from treating an employee unfavourably because of their political beliefs. The judge also found the orchestra had not breached section 342 of the Fair Work Act in three of four alleged breaches because those actions were taken after his independent contract was terminated.<\/p>\n

Announcing the decision to cancel the second concert in 2024, an MSO email sent to patrons alleged Gillham had made personal remarks \u201cwithout seeking the MSO\u2019s approval or sanction\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MSO does not condone the use of our stage as a platform for expressing personal views,\u201d the email said, adding that Gillham\u2019s remarks had caused \u201cdistress\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gillham\u2019s barrister, Sheryn Omeri KC, had argued there was nothing in the MSO contract that prevented Gillham from making the statement.<\/p>\n

Justin Bourke KC, who acted for the MSO, argued that Gillham was playing on the MSO\u2019s stage, and was therefore not permitted to share his personal views on the \u201cmost hotly contested controversial issue around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gillham had alleged the MSO undertook four adverse actions, contrary to Section 340 of the Fair Work Act. This included cancelling his show, the MSO emailing the attendees of his 11 August recital announcing his next show was cancelled and apologising for his statements.<\/p>\n

It also included the MSO attempting to impose conditions on Gillham that he could perform the 15 August recital, so long as he agreed there would be no physical or verbal statement from the stage, and then the MSO failing to apologise to him for cancelling the show in its public statements about the saga.<\/p>\n

The court heard that on 14 August, the day before the recital was scheduled, Sophie Galaise, the managing director of the MSO, sent an email to the MSO leadership group that said: \u201cOur new PR strategists have advised us to do a backflip and re-invite Jayson to perform with us tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is possible, we would have to come out saying we made an error and have reinstated the pianist. We would ideally have a joint statement from both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Gillham rejected the re-invitation, the court heard. The MSO issued a statement the day the recital was meant to take place, saying the orchestra would not perform due to \u201csafety concerns\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe MSO earlier today sought independent security advice considering events that have occurred since last Sunday\u2019s concert with Jayson Gillham,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of this advice, the MSO board and management had no option but to cancel the concert. We apologise to those who were planning to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MSO acknowledges that an error was made in asking Jayson to step back from his performance on Thursday 15 August.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra<\/a> maintains that a concert platform is not an appropriate stage for political comment, we acknowledge Jayson\u2019s concerns for those in the Middle East and elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The MSO admitted during the trial that cancelling his show was an adverse action, but Hill found the other three actions did not breach the Fair Work Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of these actions altered Mr Gillham\u2019s position as an independent contractor to his prejudice,\u201d Hill said in his judgment. \u201cThat position refers to the existing advantages of his previous engagement as an independent contractor, whereas these actions were all taken after that engagement had been terminated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill said the MSO had a policy of not expressing support for \u201ceither side of the Israel-Gaza conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe description of that conflict in the MSO\u2019s policy might not be neutral, but the MSO was committed to not supporting either side,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find that there is a custom or practice that classical musicians do not make statements on sensitive political or social issues from the stage without approval of the host. This custom is not universally observed, but that does not mean there is no custom or practice to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill also found that the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act is not a workplace law because it would be contrary to the Fair Work Act \u2013 which is supplemented by specific anti-discrimination rights \u2013 to treat the Equal Opportunity Act as a workplace law.<\/p>\n

Gillham\u2019s lawyers said they would take time to digest the findings before possibly applying for a cross order under 570 of the Fair Work Act.<\/p>\n

MSO\u2019s lawyers said they were considering making a costs application.<\/p>\n

The orchestra\u2019s chair, Edgar Myer, said in a statement following Friday\u2019s judgment that it \u201cwould like to acknowledge the dedication and professionalism of our musicians and staff who have continued to deliver brilliant musical experiences, despite the disruption and distraction that came with defending these legal proceedings\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that we can now put this matter behind us and focus on our music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A classical pianist who sued the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has lost his case after alleging he was unlawfully…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-790464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=790464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}