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Girl Scout mom kicked out of Rockettes show after being detected using facial recognition technology

Kelly Conlon was not allowed to watch a performance of the "Christmas Spectacular" show with her daughter due to where she works.
/ Source: TODAY

Lawyer Kelly Conlon was denied entry to a performance of the "Christmas Spectacular" show with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City after facial recognition technology spotted her in the lobby.

Conlon spoke to NBC New York about being booted from the venue due to the law firm where she works, which she said was “mortifying.” 

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Conlon said she and her daughter arrived in New York City along with other members of a Girl Scout troop and their mothers to watch the Rockettes perform in the "Christmas Spectacular" show.

However, shortly after walking into the theater Conlon said was flagged by security and told to leave because of her place of employment.

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 security guards approaching her at the theater almost immediately. 

“It was pretty simultaneous, I think, to me, going through the metal detector, that I heard over an intercom or loudspeaker,” she told the affiliate. “I heard them say ‘woman with long dark hair and a gray scarf.’”

Security guards then 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. 

She said, “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 does not practice law in New York and is not actively working on any cases involving MSG, said she was not able to see the performance with the Girl Scout troop. She left the lobby and waited for her daughter outside. 

Speaking about the experience, Conlon shared, “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 confirmed in a statement to NBC New York that Conlon and other attorneys at her firm are banned from the theater.

“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,” a spokesperson for MSG said in the statement. “While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment.”

The spokesperson said, “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, also addressed the situation in an interview with NBC New York.

“This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network,” he said. 

He revealed his plan to challenge the entertainment company’s license with the State Liquor Authority. 

Davis explained, “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, “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 it is confident their policy is in compliance 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.