A lawyer who works at a firm involved in a litigation against MSG Entertainment has been booted from a Radio City Music Hall in New York after she was targeted using facial recognition.
Kelly Conlon, 44, was chaperoning her nine-year-old daughter’s Girl Scout troop to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular last month when she was flagged and asked to leave the venue.
The girl scout’s mother was then forced to spend 90 minutes wandering around outside in the rain while her daughter watched the show despite holding a ticket, the New York Post reported.
Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan has allegedly banned anyone who works for any law firm that has a suit against any of his holdings, including the Knicks, Rangers, Radio City, MSG and various restaurants, the outlet reported.
Kelly Conlon, 44, who works at a firm involved in a litigation against MSG Entertainment has been booted from a Radio City Music Hall in New York after she was targeted using facial recognition
Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan has allegedly banned anyone who works for any law firm that has a suit against any of his holdings
Conlon is not directly linked to any cases against MSG but is an associate with the New Jersey based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, that is. She described the experience as ’embarrassing and mortifying.’
‘It was pretty simultaneous to me going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker say woman with long dark hair and a grey scarf,’ she told NBC New York.
‘They knew my name before I told it to them, they knew the firm I was associated with before I told them, and they told me that I was not allowed to be there.’
A sign saying facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and employees is present at the venue.
But Conlon argued that she posed no threat, but the guards still kicked her out with the explanation that they knew she was an attorney.
‘They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them. And they told me I was not allowed to be there,’ said Conlon.
The New Jersey based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, has been involved in personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue now under the umbrella of MSG Entertainment, for years.
‘I don’t practice in New York. I’m not an attorney that works on any cases against MSG,’ said Conlon.
A sign saying facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure safety for guests and employees is present at the venue
Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works described the incident as ‘collective punishment’ against those who take on MSG Entertainment
She had been chaperoning her nine-year-old daughter’s Girl Scout troop to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular last month when she was asked to leave the venue
A spokesperson for MSG Entertainment said in a statement to NBC New York that they ‘instituted a straightforward policy.’
‘That precludes attorneys pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved,’ the statement read.
‘While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment.
‘All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, which was notified twice.’
Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works described the incident as ‘collective punishment.’
‘This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion-dollar network,’ Davis said.
Conlon said she was just a mother taking her daughter to see a Christmas show and explained that she had no choice but to wait outside
The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded 1925 in St. Louis, they have, since 1932, performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City
Other firms have sued over being blacklisted with Conlon saying that she thought a recent judge’s order in one of those cases made it clear ticketholders would not be denied entry to shows.
‘In this particular situation, only the one attorney who chose to attend was denied entry, and the rest of her group, including the Girl Scouts, were all able to attend and enjoy the show,’ MSG stated.
Conlon said she was just a mother taking her daughter to see a Christmas show and explained that she had no choice but to wait outside.
Davis said he would now be challenging MSG’s license with the State Liquor Authority.
‘The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat,’ said Davis.
‘Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information is absolutely absurd.
‘The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this.’
A spokesperson for MSG reiterated in a statement that safety is their highest priority, and that facial recognition is just one of the methods they use.
MSG Entertainment also said it is confident that their policy follows all applicable laws, including the New York State Liquor Authority.