Legal Setback for Charles Oakley
Charles Oakley, the former Knicks player, has been ordered to pay over $642,000 in legal fees to Madison Square Garden. This stems from his involvement in a legal dispute regarding his ejection from a game eight years ago.
The 61-year-old, who filed a defamation lawsuit against MSG and CEO James Dolan back in September 2017, faces accusations of hindering the legal process by deleting crucial text messages. I guess some might say that was a risky move.
According to recently filed court documents, Oakley’s lawyers revealed that all text messages prior to February 2022 had vanished. It seems he had failed to comply with a subpoena requiring him to produce documents, which left some important information missing.
Legal teams at MSG, spearheaded by Randy Mastro, charged steep fees—reportedly $1,709 per hour. Initially, MSG sought about $1.5 million from Oakley; however, Judge Robin Tarnofsky ultimately assessed his legal liabilities at approximately $642,337.65. It’s a lot of money for just not keeping track of messages.
Looking back to 2017, Oakley was ejected for an altercation with security and was even arrested, though those charges were dismissed later. Following the incident, he directed a defamation lawsuit at Dolan, claiming remarks made by the CEO hinted at a drinking issue.
This civil suit was dismissed by a federal judge in Manhattan in 2020. Oakley’s attorney, Valdi Rickle, mentioned that the court had dismissed many of MSG’s hefty fee claims. Still, the battle isn’t over for Oakley. He indicates they plan to appeal, believing MSG shouldn’t recover costs.
During his ejection, the Knicks alleged that Oakley was verbally confrontational towards Dolan, a claim Dolan denied, insisting he was asked to leave for no clear reason.
In a statement that sparked the libel case, Dolan suggested Oakley was “physically and verbally abusive” and hinted at potential alcohol problems. Oakley recently noted that Dolan’s attorney had invited him to a Knicks game, though Dolan himself declined.
“They owe an apology,” Oakley remarked, emphasizing that everyone makes mistakes, including Dolan. I suppose that’s part of being human, isn’t it?
As of now, MSG’s legal team has not offered any comments on this ongoing situation.
