As a member of the Chicago Federation of Musicians, Colin Welford paid $100,000 in union dues. When he was under disciplinary actions at work, he expected the Union to represent him, but they never did, not during the investigation and not through his eventual termination. Since July 2019, Welford has been on unpaid leave from the show and he is demanding back pay for the year.
Colin Welford was working as the musical director of “Hamilton” in Chicago when something happened that led to his eventual firing from the production. Colin is suing over breach of contract and violation of Illinois wage payment act. He claims that “he was unjustly fired by the show’s producers after the Chicago Federation of Musicians allegedly abandoned him during an investigation into alleged wrongdoing.”
The Union disagreed with Welford and found that they were not required to represent him, stating, “believed it was not required to act on Mr. Welford’sWelford’s behalf as it related to his employment at the Hamilton workplace in Chicago …” the lawsuit states. Their piece-of-advice to the music director was to “simply submit to Hamilton Producers”.” Welford found his legal counsel after the Union failed to protect him.
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