Matthew Thompson v. ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedApril 28, 2026
Docket2:25-cv-01715
StatusUnknown

This text of Matthew Thompson v. ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al. (Matthew Thompson v. ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Matthew Thompson v. ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al., (D. Nev. 2026).

Opinion

2 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 3 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 4 * * * 5 Matthew Thompson, Case No. 2:25-cv-01715-JAD-DJA 6 Plaintiff, 7 Order v. 8 ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al., 9 Defendants. 10 11 Under 28 U.S.C. § 1915 Plaintiff is proceeding in this action pro se and has requested 12 authority to proceed in forma pauperis (which means, to proceed without paying the filing fee). 13 (ECF No. 4). Plaintiff has also moved for an expedited ruling on his in forma pauperis 14 application (ECF No. 5) and for leave to file an amended complaint (ECF No. 6). Because the 15 Court finds that Plaintiff’s application is complete, it grants the application to proceed in forma 16 pauperis. The Court denies Plaintiff’s motion to expedite as moot. The Court further grants 17 Plaintiff’s motion to file a first amended complaint and will screen Plaintiff’s proposed amended 18 complaint and not his original complaint (ECF No. 1-1) or the one that Plaintiff filed with his 19 renewed application to proceed in forma pauperis (ECF No. 4-1). However, because the Court 20 finds that Plaintiff’s amended complaint does not properly assert this Court’s jurisdiction, the 21 Court dismisses Plaintiff’s complaint without prejudice and with leave to amend. The Court 22 further screens Plaintiff’s complaint and informs him where he has not alleged colorable claims 23 for relief so that he may have instructions on how to cure the deficiencies in any amendment. 24 I. In forma pauperis application. 25 Plaintiff filed the affidavit required by § 1915(a). (ECF No. 4). Plaintiff has shown an 26 inability to prepay fees and costs or give security for them. Accordingly, the request to proceed 27 in forma pauperis will be granted under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a) and Plaintiff’s motion for expedited 1 ruling will be denied as moot. (ECF No. 5). The Court will now review Plaintiff’s amended 2 complaint. 3 II. Legal standard for screening. 4 Upon granting an application to proceed in forma pauperis, courts additionally screen the 5 complaint under § 1915(e). Federal courts are given the authority to dismiss a case if the action is 6 legally “frivolous or malicious,” fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks 7 monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2). 8 When a court dismisses a complaint under § 1915, the plaintiff should be given leave to amend 9 the complaint with directions as to curing its deficiencies, unless it is clear from the face of the 10 complaint that the deficiencies could not be cured by amendment. See Cato v. United States, 70 11 F.3d 1103, 1106 (9th Cir. 1995). 12 Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides for dismissal of a 13 complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Review under Rule 14 12(b)(6) is essentially a ruling on a question of law. See Chappel v. Lab. Corp. of Am., 232 F.3d 15 719, 723 (9th Cir. 2000). A properly pled complaint must provide a short and plain statement of 16 the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2); Bell Atlantic Corp. 17 v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007). Although Rule 8 does not require detailed factual 18 allegations, it demands “more than labels and conclusions” or a “formulaic recitation of the 19 elements of a cause of action.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citing Papasan v. 20 Allain, 478 U.S. 265, 286 (1986)). The court must accept as true all well-pled factual allegations 21 contained in the complaint, but the same requirement does not apply to legal conclusions. Iqbal, 22 556 U.S. at 679. Mere recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported only by conclusory 23 allegations, do not suffice. Id. at 678. Where the claims in the complaint have not crossed the 24 line from conceivable to plausible, the complaint should be dismissed. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570. 25 Allegations of a pro se complaint are held to less stringent standards than formal pleadings 26 drafted by lawyers. Hebbe v. Pliler, 627 F.3d 338, 342 & n.7 (9th Cir. 2010) (finding that liberal 27 construction of pro se pleadings is required after Twombly and Iqbal). 1 III. Screening the complaint. 2 Plaintiff moves to amend his complaint to add a Defendant. (ECF No. 6). Courts freely 3 give leave to amend when justice so requires. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2). So, the Court grants 4 Plaintiff’s motion to amend his complaint. The Court will screen the first amended complaint and 5 not the original because amended complaints supersede the original. See Ramirez v. County of 6 San Bernardino, 806 F.3d 1002, 1008 (9th Cir. 2015). 7 In his first amended complaint, Plaintiff sues ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC and its managing 8 partner Harish Sethi for damages and injunctive relief, alleging claims for breach of contract, 9 malicious prosecution, violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, intentional infliction of 10 emotional distress, intentional interference with prospective business relationships, and 11 defamation per se. Plaintiff alleges that on May 8, 2023, Plaintiff, through his company 12 Damoneka Enterprises, entered into a written Service Contract with ARJ, through its managing 13 partner and authorized agent Sethi. Plaintiff asserts that the contract term ran from May 8, 2023, 14 until May 8, 2024, and that the contract could only be dissolved by mutual agreement or if 15 Damoneka failed to perform, but could not be terminated by ARJ unilaterally. The contract 16 provided that any breach would be remedied by immediate payment for any remaining time of the 17 contract along with a 25% penalty. 18 Plaintiff asserts that he performed all services required by the contract. However, in 19 February of 2024, ARJ, acting through Sethi,1 terminated the contract without notice, without 20 mutual agreement, and without cause. Plaintiff asserts that ARJ also failed to comply with the 21 contract’s liquidated damages provision requiring ARJ to pay Plaintiff for the remainder of the 22 contract and a 25% penalty and also failed to pay Plaintiff the $5,000.00 performance bonus he 23 had earned under the terms of the contract. Also in February 2024, Sethi personally caused false 24

25 1 Plaintiff will occasionally refer to Sethi acting on behalf of ARJ or to Defendants without differentiating between ARJ and Sethi. In Nevada, typically “no person other than the limited- 26 liability company is individually liable for a debt or liability of the limited-liability company 27 unless the person acts as the alter ego of the limited-liability company.” Nev. Rev. Stat. § 86.376. For the purposes of screening, the Court liberally construes Plaintiff’s complaint as seeking to 1 criminal charges of embezzlement to be filed against Plaintiff in the Tonopah Township Justice 2 Court, Nye County, Nevada under Case No. 24-cr-00021, LEA No. 24NY-0531.

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Bluebook (online)
Matthew Thompson v. ARJ Hospitality NV, LLC; et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/matthew-thompson-v-arj-hospitality-nv-llc-et-al-nvd-2026.