James Dolan finally got a win.
A civil lawsuit brought by former New York Knicks star Charles Oakley against Madison Square Garden and team owner Dolan was dismissed by a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday, a court filing shows.
Oakley sued Dolan and MSG for defamation, assault, false imprisonment and other related charges back in September 2017 over an incident from that February in which Oakley was thrown out of MSG and arrested after tussling with security guards.
He claimed in his suit he was being unfairly targeted for making jabs at Dolan, who was also in attendance, while personnel from the Garden claimed Oakley was drunk and belligerent.
On Wednesday, Judge Richard Sullivan sided with Dolan and MSG, saying Oakley failed to make a plausible legal argument to support his claims and ordered that the suit be dismissed.
“From its inception, this case has had the feel of a public relations campaign, with the parties seemingly more interested in the court of public opinion than the merits of their legal arguments. That is perhaps understandable, given the personal and public nature of the dispute,” Sullivan wrote.
“But while basketball fans in general, and Knicks fans in particular, are free to form their own opinions about who was in the right and whether Oakley’s ejection was motivated by something more than the whims of the teams owner, the fact remains that Oakley has failed to allege a plausible legal claim that can meet federal pleading standards.”
Sullivan also ruled Dolan and MSG had every right to kick Oakley out because they are the landlords of the stadium.
“Oakley grossly misunderstands the law concerning a landlord’s right to remove a trespasser from its property. The law is clear that the MSG defendants had the right to expel Oakley from the Garden and that his refusal to leave justified their use of reasonable force to remove him,” Sullivan wrote.
“Having refused to comply with Defendants’ lawful directive that he leave the premises, Oakley cannot cry foul merely because Garden security guards exercised the lawful right to remove him from the arena.”
In a statement, MSG praised the dismissal but acknowledged it was an “incident that no one was happy about.”
“Maybe now there can be peace between us,” the statement read.
Oakley’s attorney Douglas Wigdor said the fight isn’t over yet.
“Charles is not one to give up. While we are disappointed with the ruling, it’s just the beginning of the fourth quarter and we are confident that we can turn this around with an appeal that we plan to file in the coming days.”