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Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan has used facial recognition again to deny entry to his popular entertainment venue because the law firm is in a battle with his company.
Long Island attorney Alexis Majano, 28, was attacked by technology and stopped on an escalator while trying to watch a Knicks-Celtics game on Nov. 5.
The 28-year-old was denied access, despite having a ticket, to the game in which the Celtics defeated the Knicks 133-118.
MSG Entertainment argues that they have a “simple” policy that “prohibits attorneys for firms pursuing active litigation from attending events” until resolved, a mandate it says attorneys for those firms are aware of.
Long Island attorney Alexis Majano, 28, was subjected to facial recognition and stopped on an escalator while trying to watch a Knicks-Celtics game on Nov. 5.
The general manager of Madison Square Garden, James Dolan, has once again used facial recognition to prevent the entry of a lawyer, this time Majano, 28.
Majano works at the Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz law firm, which recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of a fan who fell out of a box at Madison Square Garden during a Billy Joel concert.
“I was upset, we had a whole night planned that went wrong, I said, ‘this is ridiculous,’ Majano told the New York Post.
The young lawyer told the outlet that he had been stopped by a “gentleman in a suit” who clarified his identity, before telling Majano that the manager wanted to speak to him.
One of the workers had a body camera on and informed Majano that the conversation “was being recorded” before questioning him, he said.
Majano, who works for the firm but is not involved in the case, said the worker had a long list of lawyers he had apparently been ordered to oust.
‘He handed me a 20-30 page list of random names and signatures. He asked me… ‘Do you work for Sahn Ward? Are you a lawyer? I said yes,’ Majano said.
‘They explained very briefly: Any company with litigation against MSG is banned. I was shocked.’
When Majano asked the worker how he had identified the location, “He said, ‘We caught you with facial recognition.’
“I was pretty sure they were right because I didn’t show ID, the tickets didn’t have my name on them,” he said.
MSG Entertainment told DailyMail.com that they “instituted a simple policy.”
‘[The policy] prevents attorneys for firms pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our headquarters until the litigation is resolved,” a statement read.
‘While we understand that this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment.
Kelly Conlon, 44, who works at a firm involved in litigation against MSG Entertainment, was thrown out of a Radio City Music Hall in New York after she was targeted using facial recognition.
A sign saying facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure the safety of 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.
The statement went on to say that all affected attorneys had been notified of the policy.
“We continue to make it clear that affected attorneys will be welcome back to our locations once the litigation is resolved,” the statement read.
When asked about facial recognition tools, which are generally used to protect the safety of people on location, MSG Entertainment said that the technology is “widely used across the country.”
“Including the sports and entertainment industry, retail stores, casinos and airports to protect the safety of people who visit and work in those places,” the statement said.
‘Our locations are destinations around the world and several are located in major transit hubs in the heart of New York.
“We have always made it clear to our guests and the public that we use facial recognition as one of our tools to provide a safe environment for our guests and ourselves.”
The incident is the second in recent months that he has denied a lawyer, who is not directly related to a case against MSG Entertainment being denied access to venues in New York.
Kelly Conlon, 44, had been accompanying her nine-year-old daughter’s Girl Scout troop to see the Rockettes Christmas show last month when she was flagged down and asked to leave.
Then the girl scout’s mother was forced to spend 90 minutes wandering outside in the rain while her daughter watched the show despite having a ticket, the New York Post informed.
Conlon is not directly connected to any case against MSG, but is an associate of the New Jersey-based law firm Davis, Saperstein & Solomon, ie. He described the experience as “embarrassing and mortifying”.
“It was quite simultaneous with going through the metal detector, which I heard over an intercom or speaker say a woman with long dark hair and a gray scarf,” he said. NBC New York.
She had been accompanying 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.
Conlon said she was just a mother taking her daughter to see a Christmas show, explaining that she had no choice but to wait outside.
The Rockettes are an American precision dance company. Founded in 1925 in St. Louis, since 1932 they have performed at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
“They knew my name before I told them, they knew the company I was associated with before I told them, and they told me I wasn’t allowed to be there.”
A sign saying that facial recognition is used as a security measure to ensure the safety of guests and employees is present at the venue.
But Conlon argued that she did not pose a threat, but the guards kicked her out with the explanation that they knew she was a lawyer.
They knew my name before I told them. They knew the company he was associated with before I told them. And they told me that he was not allowed to be there,” Conlon said.
The New Jersey-based law firm of Davis, Saperstein & Solomon has been involved in personal injury litigation against a restaurant, now under the MSG Entertainment umbrella, for years.
I do not practice in New York. I am not an attorney working on any case against MSG,’ Conlon said.
Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works, described the incident as “collective punishment.”
“This entire scheme is a pretext to collectively punish adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network,” Davis said.
Other firms have sued for being blacklisted, and Conlon said he thought a judge’s recent order in one of those cases made it clear that ticket holders would not be denied entry to shows.
“In this particular situation, only the attorney who chose to attend was denied entry, and the rest of her group, including the Girl Scouts, were able to attend and enjoy the show,” MSG stated.
Conlon said she was just a mother taking her daughter to see a Christmas show, explaining that she had no choice but to wait outside.
Davis said he would now challenge the MSG license before the State Alcoholic Beverage Authority.
“The liquor license that MSG obtained requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are individuals who may be disruptive and pose a security threat,” Davis said.
“Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and the Girl Scouts she was policing and doing it under the guise of protecting any disclosure of information from litigation is absolutely absurd.
“The fact that they are using facial recognition to do this is terrifying. It’s not American to do this.