Face recognition tech gets Girl Scout mom booted from Rockettes show — due to where she works
A recent incident at Radio City Music Hall involving the mother of a Girl Scout is shedding light on the growing controversy of facial recognition, as critics claim it is being used to target perceived enemies — in this case, by one of the most famous companies in the country.
That is discrimination!
Kelly Conlon and her daughter came to New York City the weekend after Thanksgiving as part of a Girl Scout field trip to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular show. But while her daughter, other members of the Girl Scout troop and their mothers got to go enjoy the show, Conlon wasn’t allowed to do so.
Why?
That’s because to Madison Square Garden Entertainment, Conlon isn’t just any mom. They had identified and zeroed in on her, as security guards approached her right as he got into the lobby.
…
“I believe they said that our recognition picked you up,” Conlon said.
OH, was is on a terrorist list? Was she a jehadist?
Conlon says she posed no threat, but the guards still kicked her out with the explanation that they knew she was an attorney.
“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,” said Conlon.
So MSG decided it was in their best interested to kick out an attorney who was with her daughter and girl guides.
Nice PR!
Conlon is an associate with the New Jersey-based law firm, Davis, Saperstein and Solomon, which for years has been involved in personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue now under the umbrella of MSG Entertainment.
“I don’t practice in New York. I’m not an attorney that works on any cases against MSG,” said Conlon.
But MSG said she was banned nonetheless — along with fellow attorneys in that firm and others.
That is discrimination by association.
What next? Oh you (or your partner or family member) supported a candidate we disagree with, you are BANNED…. but only after we already took your money.
“MSG instituted a straightforward policy that precludes attorneys pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved. While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment. All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, which was notified twice,” a spokesperson for MSG Entertainment said in a statement.
“attorneys pursuing active litigation”. In this case, Kelly Conlon was NOT in any active litigation with MSG. This is discrimination.
“This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network,” said Sam Davis, a partner at the firm where Conlon works.
Other firms have sued over being blacklisted. Conlon said she thought a recent judge’s order in one of those cases made it clear that ticketholders like her “may not be denied entry to any shows.”
Oh, but those court cases/order are yesterday’s news.
Davis is now upping the legal ante, challenging MSG’s license with the State Liquor Authority.
“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,” said Davis. “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.”
MSG is not above the law. And their discrimination needs to be taken head on.
.
