James Dolan is allowed to ban attorneys who are suing his company from events at Madison Square Garden and his other venues, according to a court ruling — but one banned lawyer claims Dolan could be forced to shell out $500 for each invalidated ticket. A state appellate court in Manhattan on Tuesday lifted a preliminary injunction in November that had blocked Dolan’s MSG Entertainment — which in addition to Madison Square Garden operates Radio City
music Hall and the Beacon Theatre — from barring lawyers from its venues. That marks a victory for Dolan, whose use of facial recognition technology to ban legal enemies from his venues has sparked outrage from fans and politicians alike. “We are very pleased with the appellate ruling,” a spokesperson for MSGE told The Post. However, the appeals court in Manhattan on Tuesday also noted that it had reversed the lower court’s block on Dolan’s bans because a state civil rights law limits claimants to monetary compensation. The language of the appeals court’s ruling effectively makes MSG liable to pay $500 every time it refuses access to a theatrical performance or a concert, according to Larry Hutcher, an attorney at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron who is among the attorneys who have sued MSG Entertainment. “Basically what the court is inviting us to do is go to the event and get a check for $500 every time we are denied admission,” Hutcher told Bloomberg News . “I think what this is basically saying is this is something the legislature should address but there are a lot of people at my firm who will make a lot of money who cannot attend events,” Hutcher added. According to New York’s state civil rights law, no one who is 21 or older and “behaves appropriately” can be denied entry to a cultural event, according to Hutcher. Hutcher filed suit against MSGE after the Garden notified some 60 lawyers at the firm that they were banned from its venues while they represented a client who was involved in litigation against the company. Backlash over the venue bans has landed Dolan in conflict with numerous government authorities in recent months. Dolan filed suit against the State Liquor Authority after the agency threatened to revoke the Garden’s liquor license over the bans. The SLA investigation prompted Dolan to hire a private investigator to tail the retired
police captain tapped by the state agency to probe MSGE, according to The
New York Times. The company acknowledged that it hired the private investigator to follow Charles Stravalle, who called the police after he noticed someone in a black Chevrolet tailing him for more than 100 miles. Dolan’s actions also prompted calls from state lawmakers to revoke the Garden’s longstanding property tax abatement that costs Albany some $42 million per year.