The New York Philharmonic is firing principal oboist Liang Wang and associate principal trumpet Matthew Muckey after their union decided not to appeal the decision, which followed renewed allegations of sexual abuse and abuse of power.

The orchestrate said on Monday that it had issued a notice of non-renewal to the two effective September 21, 2025.

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

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

Local 802’s executive board said in a nine-page decision issued Tuesday that every member of the orchestra’s nine-member firing review panel “expressed revulsion at the abuse of power and pattern of conduct.”

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

“Both gentlemen were found to have been involved in sexual abuse and rape, as well as abuse of power,” Borda said. “This is all new information that has come out and I think the reason is that people were afraid to speak up before and not now.”

Borda said some of the allegations were made by students.

“Matt Mackey did nothing wrong,” said Steven J. Hyman, Muckey’s attorney. “The fact that they tried to do that is, of course, a violation of his rights. What is appalling is that the union has agreed to this, and the impact of this is that it renders meaningless the most precious right that orchestra members have to tenure, which ensures that you have a career with the Philharmonic and that you can be terminated only for just cause. .”

Alan S. Lewis, a lawyer for Wang, called the union’s decision “disgraceful.”

“Disturbingly, the Philharmonic has gone down the path of public character assassination instead of due process, throwing a lot of mud at the wall to see what sticks,” he wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Lewis described the most serious allegation against Wang as involving a person unrelated to the orchestra and “with whom, more than a decade ago, Liang had a long-term consensual relationship.”

He called the other charges against Wang false.

The Philharmonic this spring hired Tracey Levy of Levy Employment Law to investigate and issued a non-rehire letter on Oct. 15 following Levy’s findings that the orchestra said were based on new allegations. Muckey said in his lawsuit that the New York Magazine story contained “a reiteration of the same allegations from 2010.”

The decision by the guild’s executive committee said that in Wang’s case, 11 witnesses “testified about specific instances of rape, sexual assault, grooming of a young female musician, inappropriate touching and comments, unwanted kissing and other sexually harassing behaviors.”

The report said a woman six years younger than Muckey testified that she “had sex when she was 18 and was too incapacitated by alcohol to consent.”

“While the allegations involving Muckey are not as numerous as those involving Wang, we cannot ignore the fact that they demonstrate a similar abuse of power and failure to recognize the importance of a woman’s consent to sexual relations,” the report said. .

According to the orchestra’s employment contract, the philharmonic must give notice of non-reengagement by February 15 before the season in question. The two had the right to appeal the decision, which the orchestra said had to be “appropriate” under the collective bargaining agreement instead of the “just cause” standard.

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

The executive board’s unanimous report said it did not determine whether criminal conduct occurred, only “whether the non-reemployment notices were appropriate.”

“Given the 11 witnesses who testified about Wang’s pattern of sexual violence and harassment over several years, we do not attribute his denials or failure to recall these events,” the report said. “With respect to Muckey, we also do not find his denials sufficient to overcome the testimony of the witness the investigator found credible and the pattern of conduct he described. Furthermore, the lack of any remorse and the absence of any empathy for the victims reinforces our view that the dismissal was appropriate.”

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

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

“They are denied access to the building,” Borda said. “They will never appear on stage with the Philharmonic again.”