NYC Ballet must rehire 2 men fired over nude photos

In this April 2, 2019 photo, young ballet students stand in first position in a dance studio at a public school in the Chorrillos neighborhood, a poor part of Lima, Peru. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

NEW YORK - An arbitrator has ordered the New York City Ballet to reinstate two male dancers who were fired for sharing nude photos of women and sexually explicit texts.

The arbitrator ruled Friday that the company should not have fired Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro in September.

They were named in a lawsuit by a former student at the company's affiliated school.

Alexandra Waterbury said City Ballet tolerated a "fraternity-like atmosphere" where male dancers understood that "they could degrade, demean, mistreat and abuse, assault and batter women without consequence."

Ramasar said he was "beyond grateful" to be reinstated. Catazaro said he was grateful for the ruling but would not rejoin City Ballet.

City Ballet said it believes it was within its rights to fire the dancers but will abide by the ruling.