Lawyer Kelly Conlon was hoping to enjoy a show with her daughter and their girl scout troupe when she was denied entry to a performance of the “Christmas Spectacular” show with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
Reportedly, facial recognition technology spotted Conlon in the lobby, and security quickly stopped her and told her to leave.
Conlon spoke to NBC New York about being kicked out of the venue due to her place of employment, describing the incident as “mortifying.”
The weekend after Thanksgiving, Conlon said she and her daughter arrived in New York City along with her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and other mothers to watch the Rockettes perform in the “Christmas Spectacular” show.
However, as she walked into the theater, Conlon said she was stopped by security and told to leave because of her place of employment.
As reported by Yahoo News,
“Conlon works for a New Jersey-based law firm called Davis, Saperstein and Solomon. For years, her firm has been involved in a personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue MSG Entertainment owns. MSG operates Radio City Music Hall and produces the annual holiday musical with the Rockettes.”
Conlon recalled the shocking and embarrassing incident saying, “It was pretty simultaneous, I think, to me, going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker. I heard them say, ‘woman with long dark hair and a gray scarf.’”
As they approached her, the Security guards asked her to confirm her name and identification.
Conlon added, “I believe they said that our recognition picked you up.”
According to Conlon, the guards already knew her information, saying, “They knew my name before I told them. They knew the firm I was associated with before I told them. And they told me I was not allowed to be there.”
Conlon, who is not working on any cases involving MSG and does not even practice law in the state of New York, left the lobby and waited for her daughter outside, missing the shared moment with her daughter.
Conlon said, “I was just a mom taking my daughter to see a Christmas show. I did wait outside … It was embarrassing. It was mortifying.”
NBC New York reported that Radio City Music Hall displays signs warning attendees that the venue uses “a variety of security measures, including facial recognition, which uses Biometric Identifier Information” in order to “ensure safety.”
MSG Entertainment stated to NBC New York that Conlon and other attorneys at her firm are banned from the theater.
A spokesperson for MSG said in a statement, “All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, which was notified twice.”
Sam Davis, a partner at Conlon’s firm, addressed the incident in an interview with NBC New York saying, “This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network.”
Davis revealed his plan to challenge the entertainment company’s license with the State Liquor Authority. Davis said, “The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat.”
He continued by saying, “Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over — and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information — is absolutely absurd. The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this.”
In response, a spokesperson for MSG told NBC New York that they are sure their policy complies with all applicable laws, including the New York State Liquor Authority.
“In this particular situation, only the one attorney who chose to attend was denied entry, and the rest of her group — including the Girl Scouts — were all able to attend and enjoy the show,” the spokesperson said.
