Music teacher wrongly sacked for ‘gypos’ slur
A ROYAL Academy of Music teacher was wrongfully dismissed for referring to violinists as “gypos”, a tribunal ruled.
Prof Francesca Carposyoung, an internationally renowned bassoonist, was dismissed from her post last year after she circulated a note to 800 students on how to earn a “good reputation”.
Within it, she pointed out what the musicians might expect in the “real world” by explaining terms students could expect to hear.
Dr Carpos-young wrote: “Gypos (short for gipsies) = violinists specifically”, while also explaining that string players are known as “pond life” who are expected to drink in “tea rooms”, while the brass section is more likely found in the pub.
However, one student described the comments as “shameful stereotyping”. An open letter was then signed by 58 students saying the professor was “a symptom of a much broader and deeper failure to live up to institutional aims regarding equality and diversity”.
However, Judge Sarah Goodman, chairman of the central London tribunal, ruled Prof Carpos-young, 59, had not intended this to happen and that her words had been taken out of context.
“They were ironic in tone, intended to convey the real world in which instrumentalists and singers would have to find work and build a career, and how to behave to get on in the precarious world of sessional booking,” she said.
While the Royal Academy criticised the professor for not “framing” exactly what she meant, Judge Goodman added that “at most the claimant can be accused of foolishness in failing to anticipate how a superficial readership might wrench some of the terms out of context and manufacture a sense of outrage that was disproportionate … to the document’s plain intent”.
The professor, who is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, said the notes were referencing findings she had made interviewing more than 100 musicians for her PHD over discrimination in their industry.
Judge Goodman and colleagues upheld her claims for wrongful dismissal and victimisation.
The possibility of Prof Carpos-young resuming her old job will be discussed at a remedy hearing when compensation will be agreed.