New York Knicks owner James Dolan has been ordered to testify under oath in a civil lawsuit filed by former NBA player Charles Oakley over the infamous incident seven years ago that got him booted from Madison Square Garden.
In the latest development in a seven-year legal battle, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Sullivan ordered Dolan, 69, to testify in person about how Oakley, 60, was handcuffed and dragged out of the arena after struggling with security during a game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Defendant Dolan viewed this matter from the courtroom gallery,” Judge Sullivan wrote in Tuesday's nine-page decision. “He likely has relevant knowledge not available to other witnesses.”
“Most importantly,” the judge added, the Garden had “failed to convincingly demonstrate” that allowing Oakley's lawyers to question Dolan “would result in harassment or potential disruption to the arena's business.”
Oakley, a hard-hitting power forward who played for the Knicks from 1988-1998, first sued Dolan and MSG in September 2017. Most of his lawsuits have been dismissed over the years, but his claim that the arena used “unreasonable force” to remove him remains in litigation.
In his lawsuit, Oakley claims he was unfairly targeted for criticizing Dolan, who was also at the game, but MSG officials say Oakley was intoxicated and belligerent at the time.
Dolan could testify about a conversation Oakley allegedly had with a security guard just before he was escorted from the building, the judge wrote.
“At the most basic level, Dolan witnessed the elimination of Oakley.
The ruling states his “personal observations of Oakley's actions that night and the force used to remove him.”
All allegations against Dolan himself were dismissed from the lawsuit.
An MSG Sports spokesman said in a statement Wednesday that the attempt to compel the billionaire to testify is “just another example of how the legal maneuverings by Charles Oakley and his attorneys continue to waste the time and resources of all involved.”
Dolan previously testified under oath as part of the sensational lawsuit by former Knicks executive Anucha Brown Sanders, who accused former Knicks coach Isaiah Thomas and Garden of sexual harassment.
In video testimony played for the jury, MSGM's president boasted that after learning of Sanders' accusations, he fired her in January 2006 without consulting a lawyer, The Washington Post reported at the time.
Oakley's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, told The Washington Post on Wednesday that his office “looks forward to questioning Mr. Dolan in the coming weeks, given his conduct during his testimony in the Anucha Brown Sanders case.”
The judge also ordered MSG to turn over all emails Dolan sent about the Oakley case between Feb. 8, 2017 and March 1, 2017, denying Oakley's request to instead turn over four years' worth of emails, which the court called “excessive.”
Oakley is suing for unspecified damages.
