Jones v. Musicians Union of San Francisco, Local 6

446 F. Supp. 391, 16 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 185, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12645, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8053
District Court, N.D. California·Decided November 30, 1977·No. No. C-76-1765 RFP·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

PECKHAM, Chief Judge.

This case is before the court on the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In connection with the motion, a large number of affidavits have been filed by both sides, and the deposition of Maestro Seiji Ozawa was taken on September 19, 1977. On the basis of this evidence and for the reasons which follow, we must grant summary judgment for the defendants.

The plaintiff, Elayne Jones, was hired in 1972 as tympanist for the San Francisco Symphony for a two-year probationary period. Near the end of this period, on May 13, 1974, the defendant Orchestra Players’ Committee, composed of orchestra members, voted not to offer Ms. Jones a tenured position with the Symphony. In this vote, she received just 177 of the 351 points required for tenure. At the time, this was the lowest point total ever given to a candidate for tenure since the voting system was initiated in 1972. Maestro Ozawa, whose approval also would have been necessary for Ms. Jones to obtain tenure, did not commit himself either way at that time. Following this vote, Ms. Jones filed suit in this district, alleging the outcome resulted from discrimination against her because of her race and sex. Jones v. Musicians Union, Local # 6, Civil No. C-74-1306 SW. That suit was settled in August, 1975, by a Settlement Agreement that provided for the holding of a second vote on Ms. Jones’ tenure. Under the agreement, she was to be given tenure only if she was given at least 351 points in the second Players’ Committee vote and Maestro Ozawa also voted in her favor. The second vote was held on August 25, 1975, under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor. The Orchestra Players’ Committee, with five new members on the seven-person committee, this time gave Ms- Jones 169 points, again far short of the requisite 351. Maestro Ozawa, voting simultaneously but separately, also voted not to grant Ms. Jones tenure. In this, her second suit, Ms. Jones alleges that the second Players’ Committee vote violated the express requirement of the Settlement Agreement that the committee’s vote be based solely upon her musical ability and performance. Maestro Ozawa’s vote is not directly challenged as being in any way improper.

For Ms. Jones to prevail in this action, she must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence not only that the committee’s vote violated the Settlement Agreement, but that this violation resulted in some damage to her. United States v. Mt. Vernon Milling Co., 345 F.2d 404, 405-06 (7th Cir. 1965). If Maestro Ozawa’s vote against granting Elayne Jones tenure was independent and not improper, then that vote alone was entirely sufficient to prevent Ms. Jones from obtaining tenure. In that case, the committee’s vote would be irrelevant, for the alleged harm, a wrongful denial of tenure, would not have occurred.

Although she does not directly challenge the basis of the Maestro’s vote, Ms. Jones seeks to avoid the conclusion that the committee’s vote caused her no harm by attacking the independence of his vote. It is her contention that Maestro Ozawa, in order to avoid exacerbating political difficulties he was having with the orchestra members at the time, voted against her because he knew from the preliminary discussion that the committee was going to vote against her. In other words, he simply decided that political expediency dictated not making a fuss, and thus the committee’s vote in effect determined his vote as well. The court assumes, without deciding, that if Ms. Jones were able to prove that Maestro Ozawa’s vote was not independent but in effect was determined by the committee, then she would be entitled to relief if she [394] could also show that the committee voted against her on grounds other than musical ability and performance. For our present purposes, this assumption means that summary judgment is inappropriate at this time if there is a genuine issue as to whether Maestro Ozawa’s vote was really independent.

In support of their motion for summary judgment, the defendants rely primarily upon the deposition of Seiji Ozawa, taken in Boston on September 19,1977. At his deposition, Maestro Ozawa was examined by the plaintiff’s counsel for, nearly two hours. Plaintiff’s counsel clearly indicated at the outset of the deposition that he was fully aware of the critical facts for purposes of deciding this motion: “[Wjhat I am primarily wanting to focus on this afternoon is the Maestro’s state of mind vis-a-vis the musical abilities of Elayne Jones as he enters the room on the [25th] day of August.”1 The testimony given by Maestro Ozawa at the deposition fully supports the defendants’ position, and does not serve as the basis for any inferences in any way favorable to Ms. Jones’ theory that Ozawa’s vote was motivated by ' internal political considerations. By contrast, Maestro Ozawa states quite clearly that his mind was made up to vote against Elayne Jones’ tenure before the meeting of August 25 began.2 Furthermore, he states that he reached this conclusion on the basis of his working with Ms. Jones and listening to her musical performance over the previous 15 months. He notes in particular one of her performances during the summer of 1974 where he felt that “the playing level was quite low, the musical level was quite low.”3 Overall, he states that her performance throughout the 1974-75 season was generally below the level of the orchestra as a whole.4

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Jones v. Musicians Union of San Francisco, Local 6, 446 F. Supp. 391, 16 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 185, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12645, 15 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8053 (N.D. Cal. 1977).

446 F. Supp. 391 (Jones v. Musicians Union of San Francisco, Local 6) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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