Las Vegas Philharmonic responds to former executive director’s lawsuit

The Las Vegas Philharmonic claims in new court documents that its former executive director was fired due to her “unacceptable job performance” over an eight-month period last year.

Anne Berquist, the former director, filed a lawsuit against the orchestra on Feb. 14, alleging that the nonprofit fired her after she said she would report alleged insurance fraud. The lawsuit also said that Jeri Crawford, a member of the nonprofit’s board of trustees, began a “concerted campaign of retaliatory conduct,” including efforts to “sabotage Ms. Berquist’s professional performance.”

The Philharmonic’s attorneys, Kristen Gallagher and Daniel Aquino, responded to Berquist’s allegations in documents filed Wednesday.

“Plaintiff does not seek to redress her alleged damages within the confines of Nevada law; she seeks to impair the (orchestra) and avoid responsibility for her own failures as the Executive Director,” the attorneys wrote.

The new court documents include a declaration from Crawford, who disputed that she “verbally abused” Berquist.

Gallagher and Aquino wrote that Berquist was fired for failing to perform several job duties, such as meeting with potential donors and a composer, displaying “disdain” toward the orchestra’s musicians, and mistreating staff. Three employees quit their jobs because of Berquist’s treatment of them, with one stating that Berquist would ridicule her lunch choices, according to court documents.

“Their accusations of Ms. Berquist’s performance will be refuted,” said attorney Steve Gibson, who is representing the former director.

The orchestra also questioned Berquist’s “emotional investment” in the nonprofit.

“Due to Plaintiff’s own conduct, there are no individuals within the LVP who miss her presence — indeed, the opposite is clearly true,” Gallagher and Aquino wrote.

Berquist alleges that Crawford had paid some employees in the amounts their salaries had been reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and that the orchestra failed to pay taxes on the payments.

Crawford stated in her declaration that she paid some employees less than a total of $5,000 “out of compassion for struggles caused by pay cuts” and that the orchestra was not required to report the gifts.

According to the orchestra’s attorneys, a discrepancy in employee health insurance contributions that Berquist claimed was fraudulent was from an “apparent clerical error.”

The lawsuit also said that Crawford told Berquist not to inform other board members or employees of a $250,000 grant the nonprofit received.

In response, the orchestra said that the board already knew about the grant, and Crawford instead told Berquist not to discuss details about finances during a meeting with non-board members.

Berquist said she was placed on administrative leave after a letter she sent to the board on Dec. 1 reporting “financial misconduct and retaliatory conduct.” In Wednesday’s court documents, the orchestra said that the board voted to fire Berquist two days before she sent the letter. Berquist was formally fired on Jan. 25.

“No reasonable trier of fact could fail to find that Plaintiff was not terminated, at least in part, due to the overwhelming evidence of her incompetence, poor performance, and unprofessionalism in her role,” Gallagher and Aquino wrote.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.