Concert pianist successfully takes MSO to trial over ‘political discrimination’

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s alleged political discrimination against a performer’s anti-Israel views will be subject to a Federal Court trial after it failed to have the case dismissed on a technicality.

Australian pianist Jayson Gillham. Picture: Abhishek Kodaganallur Pichumani

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A case of alleged political discrimination by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is set to proceed to trial after a bid to have it turfed on a technicality was overruled.

The MSO nosedived into controversy in August 2023 when concert pianist Jayson Gillham stopped a performance to condemn Israel’s alleged targeted ­assassinations of Palestinian journalists, a war crime Israel has denied carrying out.

The MSO speedily issued an apology to attendees and cancelled Gillham’s next performance before rescheduling the concert in an about-face, ultimately calling it off in its entirety due to “safety concerns”.

“Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than one hundred Palestinian journalists. A number of these have been targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets,” Gillham said before his recital performance.

“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. In addition to the role of journalists who bear witness, the word ‘witness’ in Arabic is Shaheed, which also means martyr.”

Gillham took his case to the Federal Court two months later, claiming the MSO discriminated against him due to his political beliefs, which he said violated his rights under the federal Fair Work Act.

The MSO tried to have the case dismissed in March, claiming freelancers such as Gillham were not covered by the act. On Thursday, Justice Debra Mortimer argued she could not draw the same conclusion without a full trial, ordering the case to progress.

“The matter will go to trial in the usual way, and the facts will be determined on the basis of the evidence adduced at trial,” she said in her judgment.

In a past statement, the pianist accused MSO of trying to “avoid facing the facts in court”.

“They are arguing that because I was engaged under a particular type of contract, I shouldn’t be protected by Aus­tralia’s workplace discrimination laws,” he said.

“If they succeed, this would create a dangerous loophole that could strip away discrimination protections for thousands of ­freelance artists and anyone working under similar contracts.”