Conductor Carlos Kalmar Sues The Cleveland Institute of Music

Following a Title IX investigation against him, Kalmar is suing the school for defamation charges in excess of $25 million

In May 2023, the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) initiated a Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) inquiry into Carlos Kalmar, after accusations of his “inappropriate behavior.” 

Kalmar was appointed CIM’s principal conductor and director of orchestral studies in 2021 and entered a leave of absence in September 2023 following a sit-in staged by CIM students, who circulated a petition calling for his resignation in protest of his Title IX case being dismissed the month prior.  

Represented by the Cleveland-based law firm Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP, he is now suing CIM for more than $25 million in damages, VAN Magazine reported. 

Filed in the Northern District of Ohio’s eastern division on January 31, 2024, Kalmar’s federal suit lists him and his wife as plaintiffs. The defendants of the case are the school, CIM’s president and CEO Paul Hogle, provost Scott Harrison, former Title IX coordinator Vivian Scott, and CIM’s dean and vice president for academic and student affairs Dean Southern.

The filings accuse CIM of “illegal disclosure of Maestro Kalmar as the target of a federal Title IX investigation, including false and defamatory statements and inferences that he engaged in sexual misconduct before any investigation had occurred.” 

The suit also claims Kalmar’s leave was “involuntary” and charges CIM and Hogle with breach of contract for “constructively terminating his employment.”

Kalmar’s lawyers further assert that his professional reputation has since been “irreversibly destroyed” by the negative publicity on the investigation, and calls the protesting students a “misinformed and misled mob.”

The lawsuit follows a series of occurrences at CIM, including a “restructuring decision” by the school, which reduced 15% of its administrative staff in July 2023. According to CIM, the layoffs were part of its “moonshot vision,” which aims to preserve CIM’s student training and become tuition-free by 2030.

Further, CIM’s head of the trumpet department, Michael Sachs, resigned of his own accord after a 35-year tenure, following allegations from the administration over statements Sachs claims he did not make.

“This incident was not the first baseless attack by members of CIM’s administration on my character, reputation, and integrity,” Sachs wrote on Facebook in October. “Because I will not tolerate any further such attacks, I made the decision to resign … As heart-wrenchingly difficult as it was, I had to conclude that I can no longer be a party to CIM’s institutional culture. I will miss my students more than words can say.”

Subsequently, five out of six CIM trumpet students had inquired about withdrawing from CIM, according to the petition launched by students, which called for the resignation of Rothmann and Hogle. 

Sachs’ resignation came a day after Rothmann’s letter to faculty and students stating that “a public campaign designed to damage CIM is being waged by a small group of people who oppose the evolution of the institute,” and also included a link to a “CIM Fact-Check” listing misconceptions about its senior leadership. 

“Recently, there has been a significant amount of misleading information circulating about CIM,” the fact-check site reads. “We are disappointed by this and, as it has begun to affect our students, it is necessary for us to respond to ensure that our many supporters have an accurate representation of the claims that have been made.”

According to a December press release by CIM, applications to the school have increased, while Rothmann, Hogle, and Harrison were unanimously reelected to their positions. Additionally, the school received a $3.5 million scholarship endowment in September 2023. 

“CIM will vigorously defend itself against the allegations but will not issue any further comment on the matter at this time,” wrote CIM’s board chair Susan Rothmann in an email to CIM employees, VAN Magazine reported.