The TSO board gave orchestra manager Jack Elton the authority to decide what steps should be taken. Elton asked the Toronto Musicians' Association to intervene. The union upheld the board's decision. The six musicians appealed but the union turned them down, stating that they had not fulfilled their contractual agreements and so the orchestra had the right not to renew their contracts. Walter Murdoch, president of the Toronto Musicians' Association, said that it was "a straight contractual matter" and "there is nothing wrong in the orchestra's not rehiring musicians".