Ontario Superior Court has heard an incredible story of betrayal by a young woman who sabotaged her boyfriend’s career opportunity apparently because she feared he would leave her to study in the US. Eric Abramovitz was an aspiring clarinetist who had applied to study with Yehuda Gilad, an internationally renowned clarinet teacher. The court this week condemned the “despicable conduct” of his girlfriend, Jennifer Lee, who, evidence revealed, entered Abramovitz’s laptop and concocted a rejection of Gilad’s offer to instruct the young man. The court ordered Lee to pay $350,000 in damages. Court records show Lee and Abramovitz were students at the Schulich School of Music at Montreal’s McGill University in 2013 when they began an intimate relationship, and he all but moved in to her apartment. She had full access to his laptop, the records show.
GIRLFRIEND DELETED ACCEPTANCE EMAIL
A multiple award-winning clarinetist, Abramovitz applied in December 2013 to study at the prestigious Coburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles under Gilad. Although Gilad only accepts two clarinet students a year, Abramovitz made the cut after a rigorous screening and auditioning process, court records show. In March 2014, the school emailed Abramovitz to say he had been accepted, an offer that carried with it a full two-year scholarship and stipend. Except he never saw the email, court records show. Lee intercepted and deleted the acceptance and, pretending to be him, declined the offer because he would be “elsewhere,” according to the court. She then sent her boyfriend a phony message from a fictitious email address, giladyehuda09@gmail.com, telling Abramovitz he had been turned down by Coburn.
LOST TWO YEARS
Abramovitz was later accepted at the school and over time, began to understand that he had been duped. With the help of a friend he conducted amateur forensic investigation of his computer and discovered Ms. Lee’s deception. He sued his former girlfriend in August 2016. In a sworn affidavit filed with the court, Gilad denounced what had happened to Abramovitz, who now lives in Nashville but will join the Toronto Symphony Orchestra later this year. Lee, who lives in Toronto, never responded to the lawsuit or defended herself, leading the court to find her liable by default. Marshall Reinhart, Abramovitz’s lawyer, said in an interview with Canadian Press that they now faced the task of collecting on the judgment. Boing Boing
