The San Antonio Philharmonic filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Bexar County District Court against David Wood and Peter Rubins, board members until a contentious split in June produced two boards claiming legitimacy.
The suit contends that Wood and Rubins breached their duty of loyalty and duty of care — standard duties for board members of nonprofit organizations — and seeks damages between $250,000 and $1 million with the potential for additional punitive damages.
On Wednesday, Wood and former board chair Ian Thompson III filed a lawsuit against Philharmonic Executive Director Roberto Treviño and acting board chair Jesse Borrego. The suit seeks monetary relief of more than $250,000 and a “declaratory judgment proceeding … to obtain judicial determination as to the proper, duly elected, and legal governing body of The San Antonio Philharmonic.”
Both competing suits seek a jury trial, and both hinge on legal declarations that each board is the legitimate one.
In an earlier lawsuit, Wood and spouse and fellow major donor Colette Holt, alleged breach of contract regarding substantial loans made to the orchestra to acquire its music library and a bandshell for upcoming concerts.
Holt, speaking on behalf of Wood regarding the philharmonic’s lawsuit, said, “We are saddened and disappointed that the executive director, rather than sit down with us and work something out, as we repeatedly offered to do, decided to file this ridiculous lawsuit, and we look forward to explaining it all to a judge.”
She said Wood had previously offered mediation to Treviño and the philharmonic to settle the dispute.
Two countering ‘coups’
At issue in both new lawsuits is what each terms a “coup,” referring to a chaotic June 20 board meeting during which Thompson and Wood claim that board chair Brian Petkovich was voted out of his position and replaced by Thompson.
Petkovich is a musician and founder of the philharmonic along with fellow musicians Rubins, Karen Stiles and Stephanie Westney. The suit contends that Rubins, Stiles and Westney were nominated and duly elected to continue in their positions.
The “coup” described in the opposing lawsuit by the philharmonic contends that “a majority vote of the quorum was not achieved for a new Chairman,” referring to the vote to elect Thompson over Petkovich, and that the terms of Petkovich, Thompson, Rubins, Stiles, Westney and Arron Hufty, pastor of the First Baptist Church where the philharmonic has regularly performed, had expired and they had not been officially reappointed.
The result is a board that the philharmonic asserts in its lawsuit is comprised of new members Borrego, April Brahinsky, Lauren Eberhart, Marisa Bono, Ricardo Romo and Shokare Nakpodia, and the lawsuit seeks confirmation of their status as legitimate board members through a declaratory judgment.
Of named defendants Wood and Rubins, the lawsuit alleges, “Following the engagement of Jeffrey Kahane, a group of Directors of the Board became resentful of the rise of the San Antonio Philharmonic and became determined to undermine any efforts that were not under their control.” It names Wood, Rubins and Thompson as “steadfast in their objective to eliminate any efforts” for the orchestra “to succeed unless it was under their terms and control.”
The suit accuses Wood of initiating “an incessant, public barrage” against Treviño and the orchestra, citing a “bizarre” satirical Aug. 4 Facebook post by Wood that has since been deleted and private text messages from Wood to Treviño.
A postponement
Wood and Thompson’s suit alleges problems with Treviño’s management including lack of timely financial reporting to the board and failure to fill key staff positions.
The organization has experienced significant staff and board turnover since Treviño’s hiring in June 2023. A website disruption that Treviño attributed to the adoption of a new ticketing system to accommodate upcoming concerts at the Majestic Theatre at least in part resulted in low ticket sales of just more than one-third of capacity for the orchestra’s mid-September concerts featuring San Antonio-born violinist Nancy Zhou.
Wood’s and Holt’s initial lawsuit appeared to have impacted a City Council budget vote on whether the philharmonic should receive an additional $288,945 beyond its staff-recommended funding of $111,055. The additional funding proposal was pulled from the budget by City Manager Erik Walsh’s office two days prior to the Sept. 19 vote.
On Tuesday, Treviño announced the postponement of the philharmonic’s Oct. 18-19 concerts citing “the financial impact and challenges that have arisen from a disinformation campaign,” and to allow time to “plan meticulously” for the Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony concerts scheduled for Nov. 16-17 at the Majestic Theatre.
The San Antonio Report contacted Treviño, Borrego, Kahane, and legal representatives for Wood and Thompson and the San Antonio Philharmonic for comment on the lawsuits, but received no responses prior to publication.
