The former musical director of New York’s Metropolitan Opera had sued the company for defamation and breach of contract

The New York Metropolitan Opera has settled a pair of lawsuits out of court with its former conductor James Levine, who has denied accusations of sexual misconduct.

Levine’s lawyer Edward JM Little confirmed the settlement to the New York Times, but its terms, including any financial settlement, were not revealed.

Levine, who was the company’s music director for 40 years between 1976 and 2016 and for a time one of the most esteemed conductors in north America, was suspended in December 2017 after a series of sexual assault allegations. He was fired three months later following an investigation. The Met said it had found “credible evidence that Mr Levine had engaged in sexually abusive and harassing conduct both before and during the period when he worked at the Met”.

Before his suspension, four men accused Levine of molesting them, three of them claiming the incidents occurred when they were under 18. Levine’s lawyers said the subsequent investigation was “nothing more than a pretext for the Met to suspend, fire and defame him”. No criminal proceedings have been brought against Levine.

After he was fired, Levine sued the Met for defamation and breach of contract – he argued for over $5.8m (£4.8m), the sum he maintains he would have been paid over the remainder of his 10-year contract as music director emeritus. The Met countersued, citing allegations of sexual abuse from unnamed accusers.

The bulk of the defamation claims were thrown out by a judge in March, but the dispute over the breach of contract was still to be settled.