Anita Rachvelishvili sues the Metropolitan Opera over her dismissal after giving birth

Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili sued the Metropolitan Opera and her union, alleging the company unlawfully terminated her contracts because of a vocal issue that developed after she gave birth. She also accused the union of failing to pursue a grievance against the company.

In a complaint filed March 27 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the 40-year-old singer from the European nation of Georgia said the Met owed her more than $400,000 from canceled agreements to appear in Verdi’s “Aida” and “Don Carlo,” Bizet’s “Carmen” and Ponchielli’s “La Gioconda” from 2022 through January 2025. She made her Met debut in 2011 and has sung about 60 performances with the company.

Rachvelishvili said in the lawsuit that she “was temporarily limited in her very highest vocal range as a result of giving birth,” but has since recovered. She said the Met told her agent on Jan. 28, 2023, that it was canceling “future engagements due to an alleged deterioration of vocal quality.”

Rachvelishvili’s lawsuit also said the American Guild of Musical Artists told her lawyer it would not pursue a grievance or seek arbitration over an alleged breach of contract.

In the lawsuit, first reported by the website Slipped Disc, the singer said the Met violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and restrictions involving pregnancy discrimination under the New York Human Rights Law. She said the Met and AGMA violated their collective bargaining agreement and that the company breached her individual contracts.

“It is important to note that the `pay or play’ provision of the AGMA agreement required the Met to pay out her contracts regardless of whether or not the company ultimately used her,” said Len Egert, Rachvelishvili’s attorney. “She went on to sing leading roles in Berlin and Athens, as well as other major venues, with much success during the same period as the cancelled Met performances.”

U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian scheduled a pretrial conference for July 1.

The Met declined to comment, citing the litigation. The AGMA did not immediately respond for a request for comment.