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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Muslim woman who alleged that a cheese pizza she ordered at a theater at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach in 2017 had a pepperoni topping, a portion of which she accidentally ate in a dark auditorium in violation of her religion's tenets against eating pork.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas D. Long granted a motion by lawyers for American Multi-Cinema Inc., who argued that plaintiff Kiara Rivers had stopped participating in her own case. AMC attorneys also denied Rivers' lawsuit allegations.
Rivers' suit, filed in November 2019, alleged religious discrimination, battery, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
"The plaintiff has failed to bring this action to trial within two years and she has not engaged in any behavior consistent with a desire to continue prosecuting her case," according to Long, who noted that the only motion ever filed on the plaintiff's side was her lawyer's request last November to be relieved as her attorney.
The dismissal is "without prejudice," meaning the case can be reinstated with a proper explanation.
Rivers, a "devout" Muslim, considers the consumption of pork a violation of her faith and detrimental to her spiritual purity to the point that nothing can be done to restore her spiritual integrity, the suit states.
About 6 p.m. Nov. 23, 2017, Rivers bought a ticket for an evening showing of "Justice League" and explained to the clerk that eating pork is a violation of her religion, the suit states. She asked the employee to make sure the pizza did not contain any pepperoni and the clerk assured her it would not, according to the suit.
Khan was wearing her hijab, a headscarf worn by Muslim women, the suit stated.
About 10 to 15 minutes after ordering the pizza, it was delivered to her seat, the suit states. Never considering that the clerk would put pork on the pizza, she began eating and realized too late that there was pepperoni on it, the suit stated.
She immediately spat out the pepperoni remains, the suit stated.
"The dark nature of the movie theater made it impossible for (Rivers) to see the pepperonis prior to taking a bite," the suit stated. (Rivers) was devastated because she had consumed pork and immediately began to feel horror and fear. (She) was visibly upset because of the ramifications of her having consumed pork in violation of her religious beliefs.
The effects of eating pork will be long-lasting on Rivers, the suit stated.
"(Rivers) has gone into depression because she believes that the bacteria from the pork that she consumed can never and will never leave her body, no matter what she does," according to the suit.