James Dolan defends facial recognition use to ban legal foes from venues

James Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden, defended his use of facial recognition technology to keep attorneys involved in lawsuits against MSG Entertainment out of its venues. 

Last June, Dolan sent a letter to attorneys at 90 firms telling them to stay away from his venues to avoid "improper disclosures."

Joining "Good Day New York" Thursday, Dolan defended his stance as opposition to the use of facial recognition technology has grown. 

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"The real issue that’s going on here is our policy of not letting attorneys who are suing us into our building until they’re done suing us," Dolan said. "When they’re done, they are very much welcome back. 

"But look at it this way. If you owned a bakery or a restaurant, and someone comes in and buys bread from you, and then the next day they serve you with a lawsuit because they hated your bread … then the next day they show up at your bakery again and say, ‘I’d like to buy some more bread.’ Would you sell them the bread?"

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In December, the New York Post reported that an attorney was denied entry to Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular due to her New Jersey-based firm being involved in ongoing personal injury litigation against an MSG Entertainment-owned restaurant. 

Kelly Conlon was chaperoning her daughter’s Girl Scout troop to see the show when she was denied entry. 

"They said my firm was on the attorney exclusion list and escorted me out," Conlon told The Post.

Radio City is owned by MSG Entertainment. 

On Thursday, Dolan said he has no intention of backing down from the policy. 

"There’s no way to tell which attorneys are working on the case and which aren’t. But, look, this is attorneys. It sort of is amazing to me. They say to you, ‘You’re too sensitive.’

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"It’s sort of like, ‘It’s only business.’ It’s not only business. If you’ve been sued, you know that it’s a personal thing. And at Madison Square Garden, if you’re suing us, we’re just asking you please don’t come until you’re done with your argument with us. And, yes, we're using facial recognition to enforce that."  

Asked if he'll back down from his position, Dolan replied, "Not at all."

In an earlier statement to Fox Business, a spokesman for MSG said all "impacted attorneys" were notified of the policy. 

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"While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment," the statement said. "All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy. We continue to make clear that impacted attorneys will be welcomed back to our venues upon resolution of the litigation."

On Wednesday, the New York Attorney General’s office sent a letter to MSGE lawyers asking Dolan to explain his use of facial recognition technology to ban attorneys.

An MSG spokesperson provided a statement to Fox News Digital stating that the policy only applies to attorneys "during active litigation."

"To be clear, our policy does not unlawfully prohibit anyone from entering our venues and it is not our intent to dissuade attorneys from representing plaintiffs in litigation against us," the statement said. "We are merely excluding a small percentage of lawyers only during active litigation. Most importantly, to even suggest anyone is being excluded based on the protected classes identified in state and federal civil rights laws is ludicrous. Our policy has never applied to attorneys representing plaintiffs who allege sexual harassment or employment discrimination."

Fox News’ Eric Revell contributed to this report