By WFAN.com
A lawsuit filed by Madison Square Garden Company shareholders alleges that CEO James Dolan is overpaid and and neglects his responsibilities while spending too much time rocking out with his band, according to multiple reports.
The suit was filed in March in Delaware. Financial Times news service Agenda was the first to report on its existence Wednesday.
The shareholders say Dolan was paid more than $75 million over a three-year period while the CEOs of MSG's peer companies earned an average of $17 million over the same span.
They also say in the lawsuit that Dolan, 63, "works at MSG only part time" and that his blues rock band, JD & the Straight Shot, performed 50 times in six countries and 41 American cities in 2017, up from 32 shows the previous year.
The Madison Square Garden Company owns the NBA's Knicks and NHL's Rangers as well as the Madison Square Garden arena, Radio City Music Hall, performance venues in Chicago and the Los Angeles area, and the Boston Calling music festival.
In a statement to Agenda, the Madison Square Garden Company said the lawsuit "amounts to nothing more than corporate harassment."
"The company stands by its policies and practices," the statement reads. "These (law) firms represent the worst in our legal system. They manufacture complaints and then advertise for clients, also known as trolling. Members of these firms tried to the same tactic at Cablevision (where Dolan previously served as CEO). They lost and will lose again."
MSG also told the Daily News the lawsuit was brought by a trust representing a single shareholder.
