$5.3 Million Settlement After Grease Spill at MSG's LAVO Restaurant Left Woman Needing Multiple Spinal Surgeries

In 2014, a woman working at a facility in New York City slipped on grease in a common area shared by her employer and LAVO, a nightclub-restaurant that was then operated by a subsidiary of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. The fall sent her to the floor hard enough to cause serious damage to her neck and spine.

Her injuries were not the kind that heal with rest. She required multiple surgeries on her neck and back over the years that followed, with the procedures and recovery stretching across a long period of time before her case could be resolved. The physical toll was severe and the path to any kind of normal life demanded sustained medical intervention.

Davis, Saperstein and Salomon took on the case, with founding partner Samuel Davis leading the representation. The firm pursued the MSG subsidiary responsible for the common area where the grease had been allowed to accumulate, building a premises liability case centered on the failure to maintain a safe walking surface for people who regularly used the space.

The litigation attracted a separate wave of national attention in December 2022, when Davis, Saperstein and Salomon associate Kelly Conlon tried to attend a Rockettes 'Christmas Spectacular' performance at Radio City Music Hall with her daughter and a Girl Scout troop. Security guards stopped her at the entrance: MSG's facial recognition system had flagged her as an attorney at a firm with active litigation against the company. Conlon was not involved in the LAVO case and does not practice in New York, but MSG's policy banned any attorney from a firm in active litigation, regardless of their personal involvement. She was turned away while her daughter and the other girls were allowed inside. The incident, reported by NBC New York's investigative team, drew widespread criticism of MSG's surveillance practices.

The underlying lawsuit settled in July 2023 for $5.3 million, as reported by the New York Law Journal. The New York Law Journal identified it as a significant personal injury recovery against the former MSG subsidiary. No post-settlement reduction or appeal has been reported.