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The New York Attorney General is investigating allegations that the owner of Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden Arena used facial recognition technology to bar lawyers involved in a lawsuit against an entertainment company from attending the event.
Letitia James’ office said in a letter Tuesday sent to MSG Entertainment, which owns Radio City Music Hall, that thousands of lawyers from 90 firms have been banned from the company’s site for violating civil rights laws. It said it had investigated reports suggesting that it had been done.
“MSG Entertainment cannot fight a legal battle in their field,” said James, whose office also expressed concern that technology could discriminate against minorities. Those with a need not worry that they may be unfairly denied entry based on their physical appearance, and we are urging MSG Entertainment to rescind this policy.”
MSG Entertainment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last year, New York attorney Larry Hatcher began representing a ticket reseller in a separate lawsuit against MSG after MSG canceled his basketball season tickets and denied entry to several venues. sued MSG in state court, claiming that it banned
Several other attorneys involved in the lawsuit against MSG said in a Delaware court in November that they, too, received a letter banning them from the MSG venue.
Attorney in the case, Gregory Vararo, told the court that MSG “used facial recognition software to scrape every web page of every company involved and used that facial recognition software in gardens and other venues. I did,’ he said.
According to the lawsuit transcript, he continued to mock, “The idea that I was found out – my evil plan to go to the Gardens and talk to the pretzel seller about litigation strategy was revealed.”
The move by the New York Attorney General comes days after state senators introduced legislation aimed at closing legal loopholes and banning “unreasonable denials” at sporting events.
“MSG’s use of facial recognition technology … State Senator Liz Krueger said Monday that it is an unacceptable invasion of the privacy of all patrons and that people who may want to pursue a day in court against the company It is a blatant attempt to intimidate and bully
“It is time for the city and state to reconsider all permits, licenses and benefits provided to MSG in the face of MSG’s continued misconduct.”
The senator also claimed that MSG withdrew a local council member’s invitation to an MSG event after she attended a press conference over the use of facial recognition.
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