Russian soprano's case alleging national original discrimination against the Met Opera to proceed

A federal judge says Russian soprano Anna Netrebko can move forward with her case claiming national original discrimination by the Metropolitan Opera

NEW YORK -- A federal judge says Russian soprano Anna Netrebko can move forward with her case claiming national original discrimination by the Metropolitan Opera, which dropped her after she refused to repudiate President Vladimir Putin over Russia's campaign against Ukraine.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Analisa Nadine Torres in Manhattan was made public Wednesday, a day after it was issued. The case, which will proceed alongside her claim of gender discrimination, has yet to be scheduled for trial.

The Met did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Met General Manager Peter Gelb had demanded that she repudiate Putin shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but she refused and was withdrawn from three Met productions. The Met replaced her with Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in at least one of those productions.

Last August, Torres dismissed the performer's national original discrimination claim, when she also threw out allegations of defamation and breach of contract. But in her latest decision, the judge wrote that the “allegations support the inference that Netrebko’s replacement by non-Russian artists occurred under circumstances giving rise to at least a ‘minimal’ inference of discrimination.”

The American Guild of Musical Artists filed a grievance on Netrebko’s behalf and arbitrator Howard C. Edelman ruled in February 2023 that the Met violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement when it canceled deals with Netrebko for three productions. Edelman awarded compensation the union calculated at $209,103.48.

Torres allowed Netrebko to proceed with her separate allegation of gender discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law. She said the Met treated Netrebko's male counterparts with connections to Putin and the Russian government more favorably. She cited bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin and baritones Igor Golovatenko and Alexey Markov, who have continued to sing at the Met.