Former ING Financial Services trader Anthony Rotondi was booted from Madison Square Garden (MSG) this year for yelling “Carmelo, you stink.”
Security wasn’t amused, and neither was his employer. He said he was ejected, arrested and fired after 12 years at ING.
Now, Rotondi is suing the arena’s owners, seeking pre-litigation information, specifically the names of security guards who tossed him from the Jan. 7 game against the Houston Rockets. Criticizing New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t have led to his ejection, he argued in a filing yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
“At no point did Rotondi interfere with the game,” according to the filing. “To the contrary, Rotondi merely engaged in the type of fan-like conduct the Garden encourages each and every night that the Knicks play, and that he had engaged in at previous Knicks games at the Garden.”
Anthony scored a game-high 34 points during the game, going 6-for-7 from 3-point range, as the Knicks survived a fourth-quarter comeback by the Pistons to win 89-85. New York took a 73-58 lead into the final quarter, during which Anthony scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and committed an offensive foul. He sealed the win, hitting two free throws with three seconds left in the game. The Knicks went 37-45 during the season, missing the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Rotondi said he and his supervisor took two clients to the game and sat in four seats owned by ING about four rows behind the basket that was closest to the Knicks bench, according to court filings. Rotondi says he yelled at Anthony in the final minute of the fourth quarter after watching the Knicks give up a 14-point lead and was escorted from his seat with 6.7 seconds left and ejected from the arena.
Rotondi says he was arrested afterward and charged with tampering with a sports contest and criminal trespass, according to court filings. Police were told by security that Rotondi was ejected for interfering with the game and refused to leave while being escorted from the arena, according to court filings.
Emily Tuttle, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, declined to comment on the incident. The New York Police Department said it didn’t have information about Rotondi’s arrest.
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The suit seeks the identity of a Madison Square Garden employee who called ING the day after the incident and told them that Rotondi was disorderly, used vulgar and abusive language, became abusive with security and refused to produce his ticket or leave when ejected.
Rotondi was fired two days after the game because of the incident at the arena, according to the court filing. Elaine Clark, a spokeswoman for ING Groep NV (INGA) in New York, said in an e-mail that it’s the company’s policy not to comment on personnel issues.
“Rotondi did not use vulgar and abusive language at the game,” according to the suit. “He did not interfere with the game. At no point did he become abusive with MSG security personnel, and at no time did he refuse to produce his ticket to the game.”
Madison Square Garden Co. said in a statement that the suit is frivolous and it’s considering a countersuit against Rotondi.
“We do not welcome anyone into the building who behaves in an inappropriate and hostile manner, and those who behave that way are subject to ejection,” the company said.
The case is In the matter of the Application of Anthony Rotondi, 159523/2014, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).
Security wasn’t amused, and neither was his employer. He said he was ejected, arrested and fired after 12 years at ING.
Now, Rotondi is suing the arena’s owners, seeking pre-litigation information, specifically the names of security guards who tossed him from the Jan. 7 game against the Houston Rockets. Criticizing New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t have led to his ejection, he argued in a filing yesterday in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
“At no point did Rotondi interfere with the game,” according to the filing. “To the contrary, Rotondi merely engaged in the type of fan-like conduct the Garden encourages each and every night that the Knicks play, and that he had engaged in at previous Knicks games at the Garden.”
Anthony scored a game-high 34 points during the game, going 6-for-7 from 3-point range, as the Knicks survived a fourth-quarter comeback by the Pistons to win 89-85. New York took a 73-58 lead into the final quarter, during which Anthony scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds and committed an offensive foul. He sealed the win, hitting two free throws with three seconds left in the game. The Knicks went 37-45 during the season, missing the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Rotondi said he and his supervisor took two clients to the game and sat in four seats owned by ING about four rows behind the basket that was closest to the Knicks bench, according to court filings. Rotondi says he yelled at Anthony in the final minute of the fourth quarter after watching the Knicks give up a 14-point lead and was escorted from his seat with 6.7 seconds left and ejected from the arena.
Rotondi says he was arrested afterward and charged with tampering with a sports contest and criminal trespass, according to court filings. Police were told by security that Rotondi was ejected for interfering with the game and refused to leave while being escorted from the arena, according to court filings.
Emily Tuttle, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, declined to comment on the incident. The New York Police Department said it didn’t have information about Rotondi’s arrest.
ING Call
The suit seeks the identity of a Madison Square Garden employee who called ING the day after the incident and told them that Rotondi was disorderly, used vulgar and abusive language, became abusive with security and refused to produce his ticket or leave when ejected.
Rotondi was fired two days after the game because of the incident at the arena, according to the court filing. Elaine Clark, a spokeswoman for ING Groep NV (INGA) in New York, said in an e-mail that it’s the company’s policy not to comment on personnel issues.
“Rotondi did not use vulgar and abusive language at the game,” according to the suit. “He did not interfere with the game. At no point did he become abusive with MSG security personnel, and at no time did he refuse to produce his ticket to the game.”
Madison Square Garden Co. said in a statement that the suit is frivolous and it’s considering a countersuit against Rotondi.
“We do not welcome anyone into the building who behaves in an inappropriate and hostile manner, and those who behave that way are subject to ejection,” the company said.
The case is In the matter of the Application of Anthony Rotondi, 159523/2014, New York State Supreme Court, New York County (Manhattan).
