At the end of the 1951-1952 season, the TSO refused to renew the contracts of these musicians, stating that they had not fulfilled their contractual agreements. The six musicians appealed this decision to its union, the Toronto Musicians' Association; the Mayor of Toronto; the Canadian Civil Liberties Association; and many other bodies, without success. They received support from the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Canada Council for the Arts, but not from the Canadian Congress of Labour. The incident garnered extensive media coverage in both Canada and the United States, and sparked a protest against the TSO's decision. The orchestra's director, Ernest MacMillan, did not speak about the matter in public, which also prompted criticism, and two members of the TSO board resigned. The six musicians were viewed with suspicion by their colleagues and people avoided them to protect themselves from guilt by association. Budd and Staryk later returned to the TSO, while the four other musicians continued their careers elsewhere.