Former Metroplex owners sue local officials, alleging harassment led to closure

YOUNGSTOWN

The former operators of the Metroplex Hotel and Conference Center in Liberty Township have filed a $12.5 million federal lawsuit against a host of Liberty and Girard officials.

The civil lawsuit alleges the officials, including police and fire officials, engaged in a campaign to harass the hotel and its manager, which caused the hotel to fail, and that the officials maliciously prosecuted the manager based on her Indian ethnicity.

The complaint was filed Monday by Aswin Ganapathy Hospitality Associates Inc. of Hubbard, and Indira Periysamy, hotel manager, now of Lancaster, Pa.

Defendants include Mayor James J. Melfi, Public Service Director Gerry Lambert, and Water Department Manager Laura Hart, all of Girard; Liberty Township Administrator Patrick Ungaro and township trustees Jodi Stoyak and Stanley Udell.

Aswin bought the hotel at 1620 Motor Inn Drive for $900,000 on Nov. 9, 2009, invested $1,825,000 to improve it, and operated it until a fire forced its closing on March 4, 2014.

Among the allegations in the lawsuit are that the defendants falsely accused Periysamy of stealing water in a Girard Municipal Court criminal case, which was dismissed; improperly shut off water to the hotel; made disparaging remarks to Periysamy about her ethnicity; failed to dispatch police to legitimate calls for assistance at the hotel; and several other claims.

Ungaro said he disagrees with the allegations. “I did everything I could humanly do to help her succeed,” he said, declining to comment further.

Read more about the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.