James Dolan has been making attempts to keep attorneys associated with active litigation against his company from attending events hosted by Madison Square Garden Entertainment.
Most recently, Kelly Conlon, who works for Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, was identified by facial recognition software and escorted out of Radio City Music Hall after attending an event owned by MSG Entertainment.
The New Jersey-based law firm is involved in a personal injury lawsuit against a restaurant owned by MSG Entertainment.
“They said my firm was on the attorney exclusion list and escorted me out,” Conlon told the New York Post. “I was caught off-guard — I just complied with what they asked me to do and I left my daughter inside the venue with her troops. I had driven multiple people in my car so I couldn’t leave to go home.”
Conlon was obliged to stay outside as her nine-year-old daughter’s Girl Scout troop attended the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. A sign at the location stated that MSG was using “biometric identifier information” for security purposes.
This was investigated by The New York Times in 2018, although a spokesperson for the Garden declined to provide further detail or respond to queries.
In response, MSG Entertainment defended its policy, noting that it would be rescinded when the legal action concluded.
“We cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment,” MSG said in a statement. “All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein & Salomon, which was notified twice. In this particular situation, only the one attorney who chose to attend despite being notified in advance that she would be denied entry, was not permitted to enter, and the rest of her group — including the Girl Scouts — were all able to attend and enjoy the show.”
Nicole Landi’s firm, Burns & Harris, filed a lawsuit against Dolan on December 17 after the client, who is being represented by the firm, alleged she was hurt whilst walking on a staircase at one of the venues owned by Dolan. This was following a letter sent a month before, banning the firm from attending events at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theater and the Hulu Theater at MSG, which included Mariah Carey’s “Merry Christmas To All Show” at Madison Square Garden.
“By continuing to impose bans against adverse attorneys, despite this court’s recent order in the Hutcher matter, MSG makes clear that it intends to intimidate adverse litigants by any means necessary,” Landi’s lawsuit states.