Eric Abramovitz, an award-winning Canadian clarinetist, won more than $300,000 in damages against his ex-girlfriend after he learned that he lost a prestigious scholarship several years ago after she allegedly pretended to be him online, the Montreal Gazette reported.
Abramovitz, who was a featured soloist at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and a six-time winner of the Canadian Music Competition, said he won a scholarship to the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles in 2013, the publication said.
But, Abramovitz never received the email informing him that he won the award. He charged in court that he learned later that ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lee, who had access to his computer, received the email, deleted it and then emailed the conservatory back saying that he was rejecting the award, the Gazette said.
Lee then allegedly sent an email to Abramovitz pretended to be the conservatory, saying that he had been rejected for the scholarship, the Gazette wrote.
The ruse was uncovered by Abramovitz months later during a second audition with Yehuda Gilad, who offered the scholarship to Abramovitz. When Gilad asked the student why he turned down the scholarship, he forwarded the professor the fake email, the National Post wrote.
When Gilad told Abramovitz that the email was a forgery, the clarinetist knew something was up and eventually found the email address it was sent from was created by Lee, the National Post said.
"In this fake email, Ms. Lee wrote that Mr. Abramovitz had not been accepted at Colburn," Ontario Superior Court Judge David Corbett wrote in his ruling awarding damages to the musician. "She apparently did these things so that Mr. Abramovitz would not leave Montreal, and instead would stay in Montreal and remain in his relationship with her.''
At the time, Abramovitz accepted the apparent slight, completed his bachelor's degree at McGill University and eventually took a less prestigious graduate certificate at the University of Southern California, the National Post said.
The Colburn scholarship would have given Abramovitz full tuition, room and board as well as money for meals and other expenses, worth roughly $50,000 a year, the publication said.
"I accept and find that Mr. Abramovitz lost a unique and prestigious educational opportunity, one that would have advanced his career as a professional clarinetist," Corbett wrote in his decision, according to the Post. "It is difficult to quantify such a loss. Mr. Abramovitz's life and career have continued. Imagining how his life would have been different if he had studied for two years under Mr. Gilad, and earned his teacher's respect and support, requires more speculation than the law permits.
"… I cannot speculate as to how high and how quickly Mr. Abramovitz's career might have soared, but for the interference by Ms. Lee. But the law does recognize that the loss of a chance is a very real and compensable loss."
Corbett awarded Abramovitz $300,000 Canadian and another $25,000 in aggravated damages, per the Montreal Gazette. Lee, though, never responded to the statement of claim against her, never filed a notice of intent to defend or a statement of defense, and thus was noted in default, the Gazette said.
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