Opera Conductor Who Got Fired After Someone Complained About His Pronoun Use Wins Court Case

I've got to admit, I'm not super well-versed in the world of opera. The music stinks and it's boring as hell. 

However, I now know that in that world, Mark Shanahan is kind of a big deal as a conductor a the National Opera Studio in London.

Some would say that now one waves a stick in the air while musicians read sheet music quite like Mark Shanahan…

However, back in 2021, Shanhan was let go from the position. Why? Not because they found some other maestro with better stick-swinging skills. It was because a student complained about Shanahan's "use of pronouns."

Yup, I hear ya; another one of these…

A conductor in the UK sued and won after being fired for from a London opera studio after he let go over his "use of pronouns."

According to Daily Mail, Shanahan was told by the studio's chief executive that "we are living in a different world now where people are likely to call out behaviors." It was also reported that in a 2021 conversation about the complaint, the chief executive brought up George Floyd and the Me Too movement during the discussion.

Because both have so much to do with a conductor goofing up a pronoun…

You can always call out "bad behavior," but the problem is that people call out behaviors that are ultimately inconsequential, like messing up someone's pronoun.

Here, I'll show you how to handle this:

"Nice to see you, ma'am."

"It's sir."

"Whoops, my bad…"

End Scene.

In fact, as it relates to the pronoun issue, Shanahan said that the matter had been "resolved to the satisfaction of everyone concerned."

Other complaints were levied against Shanahan accusing him of bullying and that led to Shanahan being let go.

However, he sued for unfair dismissal and won. However, despite the court siding with him, they decided that Shanahan's compensation should be reduced by 15% because he, "contributed to the dismissal by blameworthy conduct."

Which makes no sense. How can you say, "You were unfairly fired" but at the same time say "You did things that got you fired?"

I don't know. But it's nice to see someone fight back when their career unravels thanks to a pronoun goof.