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Eric Abramovitz was accepted into the school of his dreams but stayed home after believing he had in fact been rejected.
The award winning Canadian musician applied to study at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, California while he was enrolled at McGill University in Montreal.
At the time, Abramovitz was dating his now ex-girlfriend and defendant in his court case Jennifer Lee, who was also a students at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music.
“He hoped to complete the last two years of his Bachelors degree at Colburn, which attracts some of the best young musicians in the world. Every Colburn student receives a full scholarship, including tuition, room and board, and a living stipend to cover meals and other expenses,” states the case’s court documents.
While the clarinetist was accepted to Colburn Conservatory of Music with a full scholarship, an opportunity he says would have advanced his career, Abramovitz was never notified that he had been accepted.
Court documents show that ex-girlfriend Lee actually intercepted the acceptance letter, deleted it, then foraged a letter of rejection and sent it to Abramovitz.
“Mr Abramovitz trusted Ms Lee,” the courts said. “He let her use his laptop computer. He gave her his passwords. By the winter of 2014, the parties were a “couple” by any measure, and Mr Abramovitz trusted Ms Lee as his partner.”
“The defendant, Jennifer Lee, impersonated the plaintiff, Eric Abramovitz, thereby frustrating a unique opportunity to advance his career as a professional musician,” said Ontario Superior Court judge David L. Corbett.
“She apparently did this because she feared that Mr Abramovitz would move to California, away from her, perhaps ending their relationship. These reasons explain why I grant default judgment and substantial damages against Ms Lee for her despicable interference in Mr Abramovitz’s career.”
To read the full court document, click here.
Scammed clarinetist Eric Abramovitz says despite his ex-girlfriend's betrayal, he's happy he still got to work with teacher Yehuda Gilad in the end pic.twitter.com/l82uCuQEQp
— AM to DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) June 15, 2018
Abramovitz won his lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend for $300,000 in damages. Upon his ruling, the judge added an additional for “incompensable personal loss” suffered by Abramovitz.
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