Radio City Music Hall used facial-recognition technology to boot a mother on a field trip with her daughter from a Rockettes show.
As Kelly Conlon and her daughter arrived at Radio City Music Hall while on a Girl Scout trip to New York City, Conlon was approached by security guards who asked for her name and identification before barring her from entering the show.
The facial recognition had identified Conlon has a member of the New Jersey based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, which has been involved in a personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue that is an MSG Entertainment entity.
Though Conlon does not work directly with the litigation in question, her entrance was barred due to a policy instituted by MSG in June 2022 that prohibits all attorneys from firms pursuing active litigation against the company from attending all events at any venues owned by MSG, meaning that all attorneys at Davis, Saperstein & Salomon would be denied entry from MSG venues.
Conlon, in an interview with NBC New York, said the confrontation came quickly after she entered the venue.
“It was pretty simultaneous, I think, to me, going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker,” she told the TV station. “I heard them say, ‘Woman with long dark hair and a grey scarf.’”
She was told “our recognition picked you up,” referring to the facial-recognition technology, which a sign near the entrance acknowledges is being used.
“The safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority,” MSG Entertainment said in a statement regarding its use of facial recognition software. “To that end, we employ a variety of security measures, including facial recognition.”
Davis, Saperstein & Salomon received two letters warning the firm of the policy, one on Oct. 28 and another on Nov. 14, in which MSG identified Radio City Music Hall as a venue at which the attorneys at the firm were not permitted until the litigation was resolved.
“MSG instituted a straightforward policy that precludes attorneys from firms pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved,” a spokesperson for MSG Entertainment said in a statement. “While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adversarial environment. 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.”
