The New York Philharmonic is firing principal oboist Liang Wang and assistant principal trumpeter Matthew Muckey after the union decided not to appeal the decision; This followed renewed allegations of sexual harassment and abuse of power.

orchestra It said on Monday it had issued a non-reconnection notice to the two with effect from September 21, 2025.

Wang and Muckey were fired in September 2018 following allegations of misconduct dating back to 2010. Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians filed a complaint, and the duo was ordered reinstated by arbitrator Richard I. Bloch in April 2020. Both men deny any wrongdoing.

New York Magazine detailed the allegations in April, and the two were placed on paid leave. They later sued the orchestra and the union.

Local 802’s board of directors said in a nine-page decision released Tuesday that every member of the orchestra’s nine-member firing review committee “expressed disgust with the abuse of power and patterns of conduct.”

Philharmonic executive counsel Deborah Borda said that during the latest investigation, 11 women made accusations against Wang and three women made accusations against Muckey.

“It was revealed that both gentlemen were involved in sexual harassment and rape, as well as abuse of power,” Borda said. “This is all new information coming out, and I think it’s because people were afraid to talk before, but they’re not afraid now.”

Borda said some of the allegations were made by students.

“Matt Mackey did nothing wrong,” said Muckey’s attorney, Steven J. Hyman. “Their attempt to do this is of course a violation of their rights. The terrible thing is that the union has accepted this, and the effect of this is to make meaningless this most valuable right that orchestra members have, which allows you to have a career in the philharmonic, and which can only be terminated for good cause. .”

Wang’s attorney, Alan S. Lewis, called the union’s decision “shameful.”

“Instead of due process, the Philharmonic orchestra resorted to assassinating public figures and throwing a bunch of mud at the wall to see what sticks,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Lewis explained that the most serious allegation against Wang involved a person unconnected with the orchestra “with whom Liang had a long-term, consensual relationship more than a decade ago.”

He said other allegations against Wang were false.

The Philharmonic hired Tracey Levy of Levy Employment Law this spring to investigate and issued a no-rehire letter on Oct. 15 following results that Levy said the orchestra relied on new accusations. Muckey said in his lawsuit that the New York Magazine story contained “a repeat of the same allegations from 2010.”

The guild’s board of directors’ decision said 11 witnesses in Wang’s case “testified to specific incidents of rape, sexual assault, grooming of a young female musician, inappropriate touching and comments, unwelcome kissing, and other sexually harassing behavior.”

A woman six years Muckey’s junior testified that she “had sex when she was 18 and was incapable of voluntarily consenting due to alcohol,” the report said.

“Although the allegations regarding Muckey are not as numerous as those regarding Wang, we cannot ignore the fact that there was a similar abuse of power and failure to recognize the importance of a woman’s consent to sexual intercourse,” the report said.

According to the orchestra’s employment contract, the philharmonic must notify that it has not been reinstated by Feb. 15 before the season in question. The duo had the right to appeal the decision, which the orchestra said should have been “appropriate” under the collective bargaining agreement rather than the “good cause” standard.

“Local 802’s decision is not to arbitrate on termination,” Local 802 president Sara Cutler wrote in an email to orchestra members Monday.

In the report prepared unanimously by the board of directors, it was stated that it was not determined whether a criminal behavior had occurred, but only “whether notifications of non-reinstatement were appropriate”.

“Given the 11 witnesses who testified about Wang’s pattern of sexual violence and harassment over the years, we do not lend credence to her denial or lack of recollection of these events,” the report said. “Similarly, in the case of Muckey, we do not find his denial sufficient to overcome the testimony of the witness whom the investigator deemed credible and the pattern of conduct he described. “In addition, the lack of any remorse or empathy towards the victims strengthens our view that the dismissal is appropriate.”

The report stated that two-thirds of the orchestra members said they would refuse to go on stage with the duo.

Muckey was hired by the orchestra in June 2006 and was given tenure in January 2008. Wang was hired as principal oboe in September 2006.

“They were banned from entering the building,” Borda said. “They will never perform with the philharmonic again.”