Finlay Resigns, Catazaro and Ramasar Suspended -- Update: Catazaro and Ramasar Fired

[FauxPas]

Indeed the complaint is confusing in that it attributes the same degrading statement to two different individuals.  Another problem is that we don't know how big the texting chain was or who got what text or pornographic video or photo.  Did every person on the chain get every photo/video?  We know that Finlay and Ramasar provided lewd private intimate images and videos but we don't know of all the others who did.  Catazaro may be less culpable than Ramasar or the ringleader Finlay in that regard.  The questions about Alexa Maxwell's possible involvement are also due to the fragmentary reporting - she may have been or may eventually be equally surprised and horrified as Alexandra Waterbury was to discover that Finlay was offering up his girlfriend to Ramasar and was assuming that Maxwell would participate.  Also that Amar didn't scoff at the idea - which leads to the assumption that she may been complicit and down with the whole thing.   Maxwell may also be one of the victims here since it is quite possible that nude photos of her were circulated to third parties without her consent or knowledge.  Waterbury at considerable personal mortification, risk and exposure came forward with this humiliating saga and named herself but the other victims are rightly being treated like rape victims and being kept anonymous and nameless.  One problem in looking at text chains can be figuring out who wrote what and to whom and when.  Probably, Waterbury has screen captures only and those can be hard to decipher.

Edited September 7, 2018 by FauxPas
Clarity

[cobweb]

20 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Look, I'm not saying that the donor wasn't a major check-writer, or that he didn't behave badly at NYCB events. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if that were the case. (Frankly, nothing in the complaint would surprise me, although it would certainly sadden and disgust me.) But the complaint doesn't come right out and say that. It could be because it is badly written, or it could be by design.

It seems like if it was a major donor or if these were official NYCB events, that would be specified as those are significant details. I wonder why this person is left anonymous. 

[Kathleen O'Connell]

2 minutes ago, cobweb said:

It seems like if it was a major donor or if these were official NYCB events, that would be specified as those are significant details. I wonder why this person is left anonymous. 

I don't know what the legal implications are of naming a third person who isn't a party to the suit, especially when that person participated in the activities that form the central part of the complaint.   It may be that the donor is someone Ms. Waterbury's lawyer would prefer not to tangle with at this time. 

[AB'sMom]

After the suspension, Maxwell posted a photo of her with Ramasar and words of support. Among the commenters were several dancers, as well as Chase Finlay’s mother. She has now limited who can post comments, but the photo and words of support are still up. 

[FPF]

6 hours ago, nanushka said:

In some cases perhaps, but in others definitely not. For instance, the photo caption on the NYT article reads, "Alexandra Waterbury, 19, filed a suit on Tuesday..."; the article begins, "A 19-year-old woman charged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that..."

The NYT has issued a correction to the article:

Correction: September 7, 2018

An earlier version of this article, using information from legal filings, misstated Ms. Waterbury’s age. She is 20, not 19. The article also incorrectly described the nature of the images Mr. Catazaro and Mr. Finlay were accused of exchanging. The lawsuit does not specify what type of images they were.

. 

[cobweb]

This may already have been covered (I’m having trouble keeping up with the relentless stream of posts), but can anyone outline what is the trajectory of a lawsuit such as this one? Does NYCB file a “counter-complaint”? In what scenario does this kind of suit wind up in court? 

[cobweb]

2 minutes ago, FPF said:

Correction: September 7, 2018

An earlier version of this article, using information from legal filings, misstated Ms. Waterbury’s age. She is 20, not 19. The article also incorrectly described the nature of the images Mr. Catazaro and Mr. Finlay were accused of exchanging. The lawsuit does not specify what type of images they were.

Wait. They’re NOT accused of exchanging nude photos/videos??

[nanushka]

6 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wait. They’re NOT accused of exchanging nude photos/videos??

The correction only applies to what images Catazaro and Finlay specifically exchanged. This is what the corrected version of the article now says about Catazaro's actions:

Quote

The company at the same time suspended two other principal dancers — Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro — without pay until next year, saying they had violated unspecified “norms of conduct.”

In her lawsuit, Ms. Waterbury accuses Mr. Finlay of sending nude photos of herself to Mr. Ramasar, who, the court papers say, sent back an image of a bare-chested “female ballet member.” The suit accuses Mr. Catazaro of having exchanged unspecified images with Mr. Finlay.

 

Edited September 7, 2018 by nanushka

[FPF]

Also, there was some discussion earlier on how long Ramasar and Catazaro will be suspended-- Josh Barone from the NYT said until January 2019 on his Twitter (Aug 28th).

[Helene]

There is nothing to indicate the level of donor or any Board affiliation. There's nothing to tie the party to an official event 

There are plenty of opportunities to meet young people in NYC.  Some people take the donor route to meet dancers, and sometimes they become friends.  In the become donors because they meet dancers.

 

If a board member were involved, I can't imagine why it wouldn't have been disclosed, since there would have been physical evidence of the communications 

[FPF]

7 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wait. They’re NOT accused of exchanging nude photos/videos??

The complaint just says that Finlay and Catazaro exchanged images, but doesn't describe the images. See pages 16-17 of the complaint (point #73). 

[Balletwannabe]

Maybe this was already answered- how would anyone have access to text messages from the men's personal cell's?  In the interview this morning she states she found out that images had been sent to 9 men on Chase's laptop.  I'm assuming she found the "innaproppriate emails".  How do text messages fit into this?  How in the world did NYCB get access to a text to Finlay from the donor?

[AB'sMom]

You can send texts to email addresses and phone numbers. If one popped up on the screen while she was on the computer, she likely would have been able to see the entire text chain as well as how many emails/phone numbers were involved. No one has said how they were shown to NYCB. 

[nanushka]

5 minutes ago, Balletwannabe said:

Maybe this was already answered- how would anyone have access to text messages from the men's personal cell's?  In the interview this morning she states she found out that images had been sent to 9 men on Chase's laptop.  I'm assuming she found the "innaproppriate emails".  How do text messages fit into this?  How in the world did NYCB get access to a text to Finlay from the donor?

Many people get text messages on their laptops, as well as on their phones. My understand is that she was given access to Finlay's laptop (by Finlay) and one or more text message threads popped up (which could happen whenever a new message came in on that thread).

Is that others' understanding?

Edited September 7, 2018 by nanushka

[Kathleen O'Connell]

5 minutes ago, Balletwannabe said:

Maybe this was already answered- how would anyone have access to text messages from the men's personal cell's?  In the interview this morning she states she found out that images had been sent to 9 men on Chase's laptop.  I'm assuming she found the "innaproppriate emails".  How do text messages fit into this?  How in the world did NYCB get access to a text to Finlay from the donor?

If you use Apple products - e.g., an iPhone and a Mac laptop - it is very easy to send and receive text messages (via iMessage) to and from a cell phone on your computer. I do it all the time when I'm working on my computer. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by Kathleen O'Connell

[Balletwannabe]

Ah ok- thanks for the clarification.  I don't use any i-products so I didn't realize text messages would show up on a laptop.

[BalanchineFan]

On 9/6/2018 at 9:47 AM, wonderwall said:

I don't think this necessarily makes them culpable, but I thought this was interesting. And it makes me like Stafford--I wonder if it was during this interim period? They just say "program director," but before his interim position, he was at SAB, so not sure how much contact he and Finlay would have had then. 

Indeed. one of the program directors, Jon Stafford. frequently asked Mr. Finlay about his partying and alcohol use because he smelled like alcoholic beverages and yet, NEW YORK CITY BALLET, INC. buried its head in the sand without investigating Mr. Finlay's conduct.

Before Stafford became an interim director he was a ballet master at NYCB. Stafford would have lead rehearsals and perhaps taught company class, with near daily contact with Chase Finlay, depending on which ballets they were rehearsing.

[BalanchineFan]

7 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

It's true, but he may have significant assets (at least compared to your average person who works in the arts). He was promoted to principal 6 years ago, I believe, so depending on how he's spent his salary, he may have some considerable savings. Also, I seem to recall from a video -- I believe it was the AOL series rather than a NYCB-produced video -- that Finlay appears to be from an affluent family in Connecticut, so he may have some family money, as well, if any of it has been gifted to him.

Also, based on the address given in the complaint, Finlay lives in a co-op building in an expensive neighborhood. One website lists the average cost of an apartment in that building as $1,456 per square foot. He could be subletting, but if he owns the apartment, that's another asset. But I don't know if real estate is something that would be up for grabs in a civil suit. 

But I agree that NYCB is probably of more interest in terms of money, though it's also probably the greater reach in terms of actually proving they were responsible. 

I wouldn't make any assumptions on Finlay's financial resources. His address might also be a rent stabilized apartment.  There are still many in that neighborhood. I've lived in them.  When you look up the average cost of an apartment online they often deal only with new rentals and purchases, not apartments where the lease was set years ago. In addition, a single market rate apartment could bring up the average for a building of rent stabilized units.

Merson included NYCB in the complaint because they have the deep pockets. It's a standard legal manoeuver. NYCB would certainly have settled if the board and their lawyers felt that the "hostile environment" and "condoning this behavior" charges would stand up in court.

[AB'sMom]

I’m guessing Finlay’s family is fairly well-off, judging by his father’s (fairly pompous) Wikipedia page. 

[KayDenmark]

Pompous or not, I don't think Finlay's family's wealth should be relevant to this case. Chase Finlay is 27 years old and has lived on his own for many years. Unless he has a trust fund the complainant can go after, I don't think it matters that his father's "genealogical line on his maternal side goes back to the early American colonies of Middle Plantation (Virginia) (present-day Williamsburg) and Jamestown, Virginia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_P._Finlay

Apropos to that, Finlay makes a storybook villain for 2018 - the arrogant white guy who thinks he can get away with anything. It doesn't help that ballet fans know him for what Alastair Macaulay calls "stuffed shirt" dancing.  A shame he played Apollo, NYCB's signature role. The Vanity Fair story almost writes itself. 

Edited September 7, 2018 by KayDenmark
Adding link to Mark Finlay bio

[nanushka]

2 minutes ago, KayDenmark said:

Pompous or not, I don't think Finlay's family's wealth should be relevant to this case. Chase Finlay is 27 years old and has lived on his own for many years. Unless he has a trust fund the complainant can go after, I don't think it matters...

But I thought that was the point that some were making: that his family wealth may indeed be relevant precisely because some of it may now be in his name?

[KayDenmark]

I must have missed that somewhere in the thread. 

Interesting that Finlay is also related to the pioneering ballerina Ruth Page, who is his dad's great-aunt. Maybe that made it more acceptable for him to choose dance as a career. His family appears to include a lot of architects and designers.

[California]

This message just arrived via e-mail:

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We’re writing today to offer our thanks to you for your support of New York City Ballet during what has been, to put it mildly, a challenging year.  

As you may know, in August, the Company took disciplinary action against two dancers and a third resigned after an investigation found that they had violated norms of conduct required by the Company with regard to their personal text and email exchanges. This week we learned that a lawsuit has been filed against NYCB alleging that the actions of these individuals were somehow condoned by this Company. It is important for you to know that NYCB took disciplinary action against these individuals before the lawsuit was filed, and that prior to this investigation these communications were not known, approved, or facilitated by NYCB. We want to assure you that this type of behavior is not rampant within the organization and that no one here would ever condone or tolerate any conduct of this nature.  

New York City Ballet stands for excellence in every aspect of its operations. We work diligently to ensure that NYCB is a place where our employees feel safe and respected and that over the past year additional resources and training have been made available to our dancers and staff to further support this objective. The dancers of the NYCB are among the most gifted and hard-working artists in the world and they deserve nothing less. They are currently in rehearsals preparing for the opening of a very exciting fall performance season, and we all look forward to launching another wonderful year full of creativity and superb artistry on September 18.

 

Again, thank you for your patronage of NYCB.

Katherine E. Brown
Executive Director

Jonathan Stafford
Interim Artistic Team Leader

[aurora]

2 hours ago, nanushka said:

Many people get text messages on their laptops, as well as on their phones. My understand is that she was given access to Finlay's laptop (by Finlay) and one or more text message threads popped up (which could happen whenever a new message came in on that thread).

Is that others' understanding?

That is certainly mine.

On my mac, all iphone msgs appear on the computer.

I see someone DID say this earlier. My apologies for missing it in the flurry of messages and the inadvertent repetition!

Edited September 8, 2018 by aurora

[aurora]

26 minutes ago, California said:

This message just arrived via e-mail:

View in browser

   

 

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We’re writing today to offer our thanks to you for your support of New York City Ballet during what has been, to put it mildly, a challenging year.  

As you may know, in August, the Company took disciplinary action against two dancers and a third resigned after an investigation found that they had violated norms of conduct required by the Company with regard to their personal text and email exchanges. This week we learned that a lawsuit has been filed against NYCB alleging that the actions of these individuals were somehow condoned by this Company. It is important for you to know that NYCB took disciplinary action against these individuals before the lawsuit was filed, and that prior to this investigation these communications were not known, approved, or facilitated by NYCB. We want to assure you that this type of behavior is not rampant within the organization and that no one here would ever condone or tolerate any conduct of this nature.  

New York City Ballet stands for excellence in every aspect of its operations. We work diligently to ensure that NYCB is a place where our employees feel safe and respected and that over the past year additional resources and training have been made available to our dancers and staff to further support this objective. The dancers of the NYCB are among the most gifted and hard-working artists in the world and they deserve nothing less. They are currently in rehearsals preparing for the opening of a very exciting fall performance season, and we all look forward to launching another wonderful year full of creativity and superb artistry on September 18.

 

Again, thank you for your patronage of NYCB.

Katherine E. Brown
Executive Director

Jonathan Stafford
Interim Artistic Team Leader

when 3 of your principal dancers were involved, it is hard to argue it is not rampant. At least it takes a lot of chutzpah.

To say nothing of the mildness of the slap on the wrist "disciplinary action" they are claiming shows they took action (before the suit was filed! look we did something right!!)

Edited September 7, 2018 by aurora