The LPO Four

[aeolium]

Employees in other professions (and indeed, non-academics in universities) do not have the same protection and can be disciplined for bringing their employer into disrepute.

It's hard to see in what way what was clearly a personal opinion could have brought the LPO into disrepute. What seems to have been the important factor here was not that the musicians mentioned the organisation they worked for but that the chief executive disagreed with the view they were expressing. I can't imagine they would have been disciplined if they had for instance been calling for increased subsidies for the arts (another political matter) or, as has been mentioned, been praising the BBC's decision to invite the IPO to the Proms. And if their behaviour was a matter which brought the LPO into disrepute, why was the same not the case for the OAE musicians who signed the same letter and also mentioned the organisation they worked for?

It will be interesting to see how the forthcoming Employment Tribunal resolves these questions. Either way, it won't alter my intention to give the LPO a wide berth.