A California carnivore is fighting a Westchester carnivore to restore his reputation in the dog-eat-dog world of meat-eating nutrition services.
Paul Saladino of San Diego claims that Frank Tufano of Thornwood posted defamatory videos ”“ depicting him in “sexually graphic and homophobic” images, for instance ”“ and highjacked his name for an internet domain in a lawsuit filed Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
“Why is a 43-year-old doctor suing a 27-year-old former bartender?” Tufano asked in a brief telephone interview. “It doesn”™t make any sense at all. Why does he care about what some guy in New York thinks?”
Saladino had already sued him in San Diego, he said, and the case was recently dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
The carnivore diet is based on the belief, rejected by mainstream nutritionists, that eating only meat and meat products, and avoiding fruits and vegetables, is the path to well-being.
Tufano is a former bodybuilder and personal trainer who wrote “The Ancestral Indigenous Diet: A Whole Foods Meat-Based Carnivore Diet,” copyrighted in 2019.
Saladino, a medical doctor, wrote “The Carnivore Code: Unlocking the Secrets to Optimal Health by Returning to our Ancestral Diet,” copyrighted in 2020.
He claims he has helped hundreds of patients reverse autoimmunity, chronic inflammation and mental health issues using a carnivore diet.
Both meat-eaters promote their services on social media, sell merchandise such as nutritional supplements and free-range meats, and offer personal consultations.
Tufano sees Saladino”™s reputation and presence on social media, the complaint alleges, “as a threat to his own enterprise, which is similar in vision.”
Tufano said it is Saladino who is threatened, and he claims that the doctor has plagiarized his materials at least 50 times.
“I made about three videos calling him out for his plagiarism. All I did was point it out and make a few jokes along the way.”
In October, Tufano registered the internet domain PaulSaladino.com, according to the complaint, to divert customers from Saladino”™s similarly named PaulSaladinoMD.com.
Then Tufano allegedly posted sexually graphic, homophobic images of Saladino. He linked to videos in which he describes himself as the source of Saladino”™s information on the carnivore diet and depicts Saladino as a plagiarizer, a thief and a drug abuser.
The images are not homophobic, Tufano said. Rather, they depict a man wearing a mask of Tufano and performing a sexual act on Saladino.
“The joke is that he is sucking the information out of me.”
Saladino accuses Tufano of cyberpiracy, unlawful registration of a domain name, deceptive trade practices and defamation.
Though he is not demanding a pound of flesh, Saladino is seeking $600,000 in damages. He is asking the court to stop Tufano from publishing defamatory statements, make him remove defamatory videos and take down his website, transfer ownership of PaulSaladino.com to Saladino, and order him to make efforts to restore Saladino”™s reputation.
Brooklyn attorneys David D. Lin and Michael D. Cilento represent Saladino.
This looks like an ad, not-cleverly disguised as a legit article. (AND it’s an idiotic topic, absolutely not related to actual business.) It most-definitely lowers my opinion of the “Business Journals.” It’s NOT a business article, it’s a lousy attempt at PR. So, I’m guessing that one or both of the people in this supposed lawsuit advertises with you? Pay-for-Play? How very beneath you. “The Business Journals” should be ashamed. (At the end I said to myself, “Well, THERE goes fie minutes of my life I’ll never get back.) Sigh..Pay-for-Play always is transparent: articles like this, in paper, make great birdcage-lining–but lousy reading. For every blatant Pay-for-Play article, your rep goes down the tubes, ’til eventually–your merit as a legitimate publishing house is in Long Island Sound. Sorry to be so harsh, but really, people…
Both parties run businesses. Neither party advertises with the Business Journals. The story is based on an actual lawsuit, which can easily be verified.