dme court

A local health and wellness hotel has filed suit against a physician for fraud, misrepresentation and interfering with business relations.

Tesla BioHealing Wellness Hotel and Resort, at 139 Pittsburgh Road, filed a civil complaint against Dr. Sheler Sadati, claiming Sadati harassed employees and misrepresented her background in her single day of employment.

The lawsuit was filed in Butler County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Tesla BioHealing is a wellness hotel that provides services including “healing, energy, restorative sleep and pain reduction” at facilities across the country, according to the lawsuit. Sadati accepted a position with its staff in March 2023.

Tesla BioHealing, along with First Institute of All Medicines, allege that Sadati mislead the company on her intention to work for them, and sent false invoices for gas costs and for a full day of work, despite working 3.5 hours.

The company told the Butler Eagle that it is dealing with a personnel issue, and that it cannot comment on ongoing legal matters.

According to the complaint document, Tesla BioHealing hired Sadati, a licensed physician in Pennsylvania, to be a long-term member of its staff, following multiple interviews with the company. Sadati did not last a full day with the company.

On her day of employment, the lawsuit claims Sadati used discriminatory language to staff members based around race, ethnicity and national origin. She also made unreasonable demands surrounding travel expense reimbursements. And, she threatened human resources manager Pamela Blankenship, Tesla BioHealing president Helen Gu and First Institute of All Medicines president James Liu.

According to the lawsuit, Sadati followed through with false reports to federal, state and local governmental agencies, including the Butler Township police, the Pittsburgh area Occupational Safety and Health Administration office and the Department of Labor.

Tesla BioHealing claims the following investigations, proven false, negatively impacted business activities and forced the company to spend time, money and effort to address the complaints.

The lawsuit goes on to claim that Sadati began harassing various members of the company, sending emails with further discriminatory language. Sadati ignored two cease-and-desist letters, according to the suit.

It later was discovered that Sadati misrepresented herself, Tesla BioHealing maintains. She did not disclose a discrimination case filed against her former employer. She also lied about being represented by Ari Karpf, an attorney from eastern Pennsylvania, according to the suit.

Tesla BioHealing claimed it paid a recruiting company $14,000 to help replace Sadati, and is still facing legal fees regarding investigations it has faced.

The suit seeks judgment in an amount in excess of the arbitration limits on the court and additional relief as the court deems appropriate.