Prominent La Jolla Entrepreneur Sues Local Restauranteur For Civil Rights Violations

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominent La Jolla, Calif. business person Ajay Thakore and his company, Gopher Media LLC (also known as Doctor Multimedia), today announced that they have filed a civil rights and First Amendment violation lawsuit against La Jolla restaurant American Pizza Manufacturing and its owner, Andrew Melone. The law firm of Murchison & Cumming filed the lawsuit on behalf of Doctor Multimedia and Mr. Thakore in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

American Pizza Manufacturing is located at 7402 La Jolla Blvd in La Jolla, Calif., and its website is www.americanpizzamfg.com.

The lawsuit alleges that the "take-n-bake" pizza restaurant and its owner, Melone, have violated the civil and First Amendment rights of Mr. Thakore, as well as libeled his business, Doctor Multimedia. The complaint asserts claims for the alleged violation of Mr. Thakore's constitutional rights under California law and the U.S. Constitution, with discrimination on the basis of race under state and federal law, unfair business practices, false advertising, defamation, trade libel, violation of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, negligence, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that Melone and his employees have threatened, harassed, and used racial as well as sexual orientation-related slurs against Mr. Thakore, as well as defamed Doctor Multimedia, in retaliation for Mr. Thakore trying to park in a public parking spot in front of American Pizza Manufacturing and exercising his constitutional right to criticize the type of product American Pizza Manufacturing offers, the "take-n-bake" pizza.

The lawsuit claims that Melone and his business threaten, intimidate, and harass anyone they do not approve of or like - including Thakore - who tries to park in the public parking spot in front of the American Pizza Manufacturing restaurant. While the lawsuit alleges that Melone has hurled racial and sexual orientation-related slurs at Mr. Thakore and engaged in other harassment tactics, it also alleges that customers are offered discounts to harass Mr. Thakore so that he will not park in the public parking spot in front of American Pizza Manufacturing. 

"Being of Indian decent, I believe very strongly that I have a duty to protect and advocate for the rights of fellow Indian Americans, as well as other minorities in the La Jolla community," said Thakore. "No one should be harassed, intimidated or threatened for parking in a public parking space because of their race or ethnic background. I'll also add that my company, Doctor Multimedia, has a stellar reputation with its clients and in the community, and it has been unfairly and repeatedly targeted."

The lawsuit goes on to allege that Melone fabricated more than one false story, one of which was printed in the La Jolla Light newspaper, after Thakore exercised his constitutional rights to protest Melone's unfair and discriminatory business practices.

Recently, Thakore and Doctor Multimedia made a motion to amend their complaint to include new claims as to a recent event which occurred on February 9, 2022. The proposed amended complaint alleges that Melone contacted the police to report Thakore for parking in the spot for more than 15 minutes even though Thakore had just arrived in the spot. The proposed amended complaint also alleges that the police targeted Thakore at Melone's behest as part of Melone's alleged campaign to threaten, harass, and discriminate against Thakore and others who Melone does not approve of parking in the public parking spot in front of his business. The proposed amended complaint also alleges that soon after that incident on February 24, 2022, the police returned to American Pizza Manufacturing to receive what appeared to be a reward for ticketing Thakore on February 9, 2022.

Over 85 individuals, who include Melone, his employees and his customers, have been documented over the last two and half months parking in the public parking spot in front of American Pizza Manufacturing for well over the 15-minute parking time limit without being ticketed or suffering legal consequences with the police department. The proposed amended complaint alleges that only Thakore or those that Melone does not approve of have and continue to face harassment, to include having the police ticket them if they park in the public parking place in front of American Pizza Manufacturing.

A complaint and request for an internal affairs investigation into the incident have been made to the City of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department, with an internal affairs investigation into the matter still pending.

The City of San Diego recently dismissed the ticket issued to Thakore after the complaint and request for an investigation into the matter was made.

About Doctor Multimedia
Doctor Multimedia is a digital marketing agency which provides marketing, social media services, reputation management, website content creation, email marketing, and SEO optimization to professionals, including medical doctors, dentists, veterinary professionals, and more,  growing their online presence through paid and organic search enhancement. For more information, visit www.doctormultimedia.com. 

SOURCE Doctor Multimedia