Madison Square Garden Entertainment and its controlling owner James Dolan are defending an unusual cluster of lawsuits, including federal claims over facial-recognition-based bans of attorneys, a whistleblower complaint from a former security executive alleging illegal spying on fans and lawyers, a data breach class action covering roughly 131,000 people, a personal injury suit by an NYPD officer injured at a boxing match, and a partially dismissed sexual abuse case against Dolan personally. A shareholder derivative suit tied to the 2021 MSG Networks merger settled for $85 million in 2023. Several of the Madison Square Garden lawsuits below remain active as of 2026.
The Attorney Ban and Facial Recognition Litigation
Starting in the summer of 2022, MSG began using facial recognition at its venue entrances to identify and eject lawyers who work at any firm currently suing the company. Profile photos scraped from firm websites feed a watch list. By 2025 the banned list covered more than a thousand lawyers across roughly 90 firms.1ESPN. New York Knicks MSG Banned List James Dolan MSG says litigation creates an “inherently adversarial environment” and that banned firms are “hostile” and “predatory.” Bans stay in place until the underlying case is resolved.
The policy drew national attention when Kelly Conlon, an attorney whose firm had a case pending against MSG, was pulled out of a Radio City Music Hall “Christmas Spectacular” in late 2022 while chaperoning a Girl Scout troop. Security told her she was on the “attorney exclusion list.”2The New York Times. Madison Square Garden Facial Recognition3NYU JIPEL. The Power of Exclusion: Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition Technology to Ban the Owner’s Enemies4Bloomberg Law. Madison Square Garden Wins Dismissal of Ticket Resellers Suit
Court Rulings on the Ban
Several law firms sued to strike down the ban under New York’s anti-discrimination laws governing places of public entertainment. A state trial court initially issued a preliminary injunction partially lifting the ban, and in June 2023 Judge Lyle Frank of the New York State Supreme Court ruled the policy violated state anti-discrimination law and ordered MSG to admit attorneys with valid tickets.5Georgetown Law Free Speech Project. Madison Square Garden’s Use of Facial Recognition Technology to Bar Certain Lawyers Stirs Protests On appeal, MSG has largely prevailed, with higher courts reversing lower-court orders to lift the bans.1ESPN. New York Knicks MSG Banned List James Dolan
A separate federal class action, Gross v. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (Case No. 1:23-cv-03380), was filed in the Southern District of New York. Plaintiffs Aaron Gross and Jacob Blumenkrantz alleged MSG violated New York City’s Biometric Identifier Information Protection Code by profiting from biometric data collection. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan dismissed the case on May 7, 2024, ruling that the city law prohibits profiting from the “transaction” of biometric data, not from using it to benefit a company’s operations. Accompanying unjust enrichment and civil rights claims were also dismissed.6Bloomberg Law. Madison Square Garden Beats Suit Over Facial ID System at Venues
Regulator and Attorney General Response
In January 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James sent MSG a letter demanding information on its facial recognition practices and warning that the policy affecting roughly 90 law firms could violate local, state, and federal human rights laws. She also cited research suggesting the software may be “plagued with biases and false positives against people of color and women.”7New York Attorney General. Attorney General James Seeks Information from Madison Square Garden Regarding Use The New York State Liquor Authority separately opened an inquiry. Dolan said the SLA threatened to revoke MSG’s liquor license and publicly threatened to stop alcohol sales at the arena rather than comply. MSG later said it met with the SLA. No formal ruling, fine, or license condition has been publicly reported.8NBC New York. Madison Square Garden’s Ban on Lawyers Suing Them Can Remain in Place, Court Rules
The Ingrasselino Whistleblower Suit
On September 25, 2025, Donald Ingrasselino, MSG’s former vice president of shared security services, filed a 60-page federal complaint against MSG Entertainment and chief security officer John Eversole. The case, Ingrasselino v. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (Case No. 1:25-cv-07980), was filed in the Southern District of New York. It contains nine counts, including disability discrimination, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, retaliation, breach of contract, and illegal collection of personal information.9Sports Litigation Alert. Lawsuit Questions Whether Fans Should Have to Sacrifice Privacy in Order to Enjoy an Event at MSG
Ingrasselino worked at MSG from August 2021 to February 2024. He alleges he was ordered to conduct unauthorized surveillance on fans, attorneys, and employees, including collecting Social Security numbers and financial data through facial recognition and biometric systems. He claims the targets were not genuine security threats but “personal enemies” of the company and its owner. The complaint alleges Eversole directed Ingrasselino to secretly record phone conversations of a woman who had filed a sexual abuse suit against Dolan in January 2024, and to help discredit that accuser without a valid business purpose.10The New York Times / The Athletic. Madison Square Garden Lawsuit Discrimination Security Misconduct
The complaint further alleges Eversole mocked Ingrasselino’s Type 1 diabetes, telling coworkers he was “sick” and would “die if he eats sugar,” and directed staff to carry firearms on MSG premises without required security guard certifications. MSG called the allegations “baseless” and characterized the suit as an attempt by “predatory law firms” to “extort fees and payoffs.”
As of mid-2026 the case remains active before Judge Vernon S. Broderick. MSG has filed motions to dismiss, to strike certain allegations, and to disqualify Ingrasselino’s counsel at Reavis Page Jump LLP on the ground that counsel is “too enmeshed in the facts of the case.” Briefing was completed in early 2026. The court has not yet ruled, and no trial date has been set.11CourtListener. Ingrasselino v. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp.
What the Wired Investigation Added
In April 2026, Wired published an investigation by Noah Shachtman and Robert Silverman drawing on the Ingrasselino lawsuit, internal documents, and interviews with former employees. The report described facial recognition integrated into metal detectors to catalog every face entering MSG venues, a security executive group known as “the Council” that manages a watch list and assigns threat scores, and lists that included journalists, critics, and fans who shouted “Sell the team” or wore protest apparel. Lawyers from firms suing MSG were subjected to what the report called “electronic dumpster dives.”12Wired. Madison Square Garden Jim Dolan Surveillance Machine
The lawsuit and the Wired report allege that Eversole ordered dossiers on a trans woman identified under the pseudonym Nina Richards and directed staff to track her movements at Knicks games over roughly two years starting in 2021. A dossier for a January 2022 game logged ticket scans, escalator use, food purchases, and bathroom visits second by second. Eversole allegedly misgendered Richards in staff meetings and said an “openly” trans woman’s presence could “damage MSG’s reputation.” Richards was eventually banned under what the lawsuit calls a fabricated stalking allegation.13Them. Jim Dolan Madison Square Garden Surveillance System Trans Woman Allegations MSG’s lawyers responded in a court filing that the allegation was “a clear attempt to cast Eversole in a negative light,” and a company spokesperson called the Wired report “built on false, misleading and unverified allegations.”12Wired. Madison Square Garden Jim Dolan Surveillance Machine
The investigation also reported that a child estimated to be eight to ten years old triggered the surveillance system at the Sphere in Las Vegas and was labeled a “priority 8,” the highest-priority threat category in that area. Ingrasselino’s suit further alleges that MSG staffers were ordered to embed in public protests near the arena, including pro-Palestine demonstrations in Midtown Manhattan, to gather intelligence.14S.T.O.P. S.T.O.P. Condemns MSG Entertainment Surveillance of Protesters, Sports Fans on Social Media
Shareholder Derivative Suit Over the MSG Networks Merger
In May 2021, shareholders filed a derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery challenging the all-stock merger between MSG Entertainment and MSG Networks that closed in July 2021. The plaintiffs alleged the Dolan family, which controlled over 70 percent of the voting power in both companies, engineered the roughly $900 million acquisition to capture MSG Networks’ cash flow and channel it toward the $1.9 billion Sphere project. The complaint alleged the deal was not conditioned on a minority stockholder vote and that the special committee reviewing it included a conflicted member.15BLBG Law. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Inc. (MSGE)
In re Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. Stockholders Litigation (Case No. 2021-0468-KSJM) was scheduled for trial in April 2023 but settled weeks earlier for $85 million in cash following mediation before retired Judge Layn R. Phillips. Because the case was derivative, the funds went to the company, by then known as Sphere Entertainment Co. following a 2023 spin-off, rather than to individual stockholders. Vice Chancellor Lori Will approved the settlement on August 14, 2023.16Barrack, Rodos & Bacine. Delaware Chancery Court Approves $48.5 Million Settlement of MSGN-MSGE Merger Stockholder Action
Data Breach Class Action
In August 2025, hackers accessed MSG Entertainment’s Oracle E-Business Suite application and stole names and Social Security numbers of roughly 131,000 current and former employees, stagehands, and corporate vendors. MSG says it did not discover the breach until December 16, 2025, and did not begin notifying affected individuals until late February 2026, according to filings with the Maine and California Attorneys General.
On March 4, 2026, a proposed class action, Liranzo v. Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (Case No. 1:26-cv-01791), was filed in the Southern District of New York on behalf of the affected group. The case was pending as of the most recent available information.17Bloomberg Law. Madison Square Garden Sued Over Oracle E-Business Suite Breach
NYPD Officer’s Personal Injury Suit
In February 2026, NYPD officer John Przybyszewski, a seven-year veteran, sued MSG, rapper Lil Tjay (Tione Jayden Merritt), and promoter Top Rank in Manhattan Supreme Court. The suit stems from a February 2025 boxing match at MSG’s Hulu Theater. Working an off-duty paid security detail, the officer says he was knocked to the ground and pinned during a scuffle involving Lil Tjay and his entourage, sustaining permanent cervical and lumbar spine injuries. He alleges MSG made “conscious operational decisions” that placed him in harm’s way, including staffing only two of eight planned security officers for the event.18New York Post. NYPD Cop Left With Severe Spinal Injuries After MSG Brawl With Rapper Lil Tjay Entourage: Lawsuit
After attorney John Scola filed the suit, MSG sent him a letter dated April 30, 2026, revoking his tickets to all MSG venues, applying the same attorney ban seen in the facial recognition cases.19Wired. MSG Bans Lawyer Representing New York Cop Injured at a Boxing Match
Sexual Abuse Suit Against James Dolan
The Ingrasselino complaint references a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against Dolan in early 2024. The plaintiff, Tennessee massage therapist Kellye Croft, alleged Dolan pressured her into unwanted sexual intercourse in 2013 and facilitated a 2014 encounter with Harvey Weinstein in which Weinstein allegedly sexually assaulted her. On September 17, 2024, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson in California dismissed the sex trafficking claim with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. The sexual battery, sexual assault, and aiding-and-abetting claims were dismissed without prejudice, leaving the door open to refile. The judge ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendants’ court costs. Croft’s attorneys said they intended to appeal the trafficking ruling and continue pursuing the remaining claims.20ESPN. Judge Dismisses Suit Accused James Dolan Sexual Assault