Countertenor David Daniels Sues University of Michigan For Unfair Dismissal

David Daniels has filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan. The countertenor has claimed his rights were violated when he was fired in 2020.

What’s going on: This week, the countertenor David Daniels filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan after being dismissed from the school in 2020. Daniels was fired after an investigation into sexual misconduct found that Daniels had solicited 3 students and shared explicit videos with another student. He claims the school has treated him differently from heterosexual members of the faculty, who engaged in similar acts of misconduct.

In case you missed it: In 2019, David Daniels and his husband Scott Walters were arrested and charged after the Rice University student Samuel Schultz claimed to have been drugged and sexually assaulted by the couple. In 2023, Daniels and Walters pleaded guilty to the charges.

Before Daniels’ charges, the countertenor enjoyed a glittering career on the world’s greatest stages. He was a tenured professor at the University of Michigan, and former US Supreme Court Justice and opera lover Ruth Bader Ginsburg presided over his wedding to Scott Walters. Since his conviction, Daniels has been dropped from AGMA, yet still has received offers to restart his singing career in Europe.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.