Wendy White, the Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano who was hospitalized in December 2011 after an eight-foot fall when a piece of scenery broke during a performance, is suing the Met for damages as a result of the accident. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday, but the Met will not be served with papers until Monday, Ms. White's lawyer, Martin Edelman, said on Friday afternoon.
Ms. White, a veteran singer who sang more than 500 performances at the Met since she made her debut as Flora in “La Traviata†in 1989, waited so long to file her suit, her lawyer said, because she had hoped to recover her health and resume her career.
“However, she has recently undergone examinations that show that, if anything, she's getting worse,†Mr. Edelman said. “She has nerve damage, and she is unable to sustain notes, and she has problems standing for long periods - all the physical requirements necessary to perform in an opera.â€
Mr. Edelman asserted that the Met's own investigation into the accident, while Ms. White was performing as Marthe in Gounod's “Faust,†showed that the platform had collapsed because it was held together with a window hinge instead of a heftier piece of hardware.
A spokesman for the Met could not be reached on Friday afternoon, and a message left with the company's press department was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for medical care, loss of wages, and pain and suffering - which, Mr. Edelman said, is acute in the case of a singer who suddenly finds herself unable to perform, since her identity and self-image are, to a great degree, bound up in her work. The suit does not seek a specific amount.
