Former executive director sues Las Vegas Philharmonic

The former executive director of the Las Vegas Philharmonic claims in a lawsuit that she was fired after only eight months on the job for planning to report financial misconduct.

Anne Berquist filed the lawsuit last week in Clark County District Court against the orchestra and Jeri Crawford, a member of the nonprofit’s board of trustees. The lawsuit alleges that the orchestra committed insurance fraud and had “discriminatorily paid additional portions of the health insurance premiums of select” employees.

The board issue the following statement on Monday to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

“The allegations made in the complaint are plainly false. The Las Vegas Philharmonic Board of Trustees unanimously voted to part ways with Executive Director Anne Berquist due to her performance in the role. The Board is saddened that Ms. Berquist has subsequently chosen to raise false and meritless claims. The Philharmonic will vigorously defend itself, while focusing its energy on continuing to provide a premier cultural resource for Clark County’s residents and visitors.”

In October, according to Berquist’s suit, Crawford said she “personally paid” some employees in the amounts that their salaries had been reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Berquist’s lawyers — Steven Gibson, Daniel Joslyn and Roman Nikhman — wrote that the orchestra did not report the salary payments to the IRS and “failed to pay any employment taxes” associated with the payments.

The suit also alleges that Crawford told Berquist not to inform other board members or employees of a $250,000 grant the nonprofit received in November. In addition, it claims that Crawford began a “concerted campaign of retaliatory conduct,” including “verbal abuse,” efforts to “sabotage Ms. Berquist’s professional performance,” and an allegation told to several philharmonic musicians that Berquist was “incapable of discharging her professional duties.”

In December, Berquist sent a letter to the board reporting the “financial misconduct and the retaliatory conduct,” the suit states. Berquist was later placed on administrative leave and was fired Jan. 25 following a mediation meeting with Crawford that “concluded without a settlement.”

“The LVP terminated Ms. Berquist in retaliation for Ms. Berquist’s refusal to participate in the Financial Misconduct and Ms. Berquist’s stated intention to report Financial Misconduct to the appropriate governmental authorities,” the suit states.

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