Ex-employee of Upstate Shredding ordered to stop accusations against Adam Weitsman

A former Upstate Shredding employee has been ordered to stop making defamatory statements about his former boss, and remove all false references and allegations from his social media accounts and forums or any remnants of those posts.

A federal judge in Albany issued a default judgment against Robert A. Levesque III on April 25. Levesque, whose current address is listed as Ramona, California, failed to respond to numerous demands to appear and respond to the complaint filed by Adam Weitsman, the principal of Owego-based Upstate Shredding.

A series of internet postings by Levesque tried to falsely implicate the recycling company's owner in the disappearance of Tioga County woman Michele Harris nearly 17 years ago, among other accusations, including drug dealing and bribery of government officials, according to the lawsuit in federal court. The postings were made on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube, the complaint said.

U.S. District Court Judge Mae D'Agostino ordered Levesque to remove derogatory references to Weitsman and Upstate Shredding "from all websites, forums, blogs, lists, social media accounts, and any other forum of mass communication" by May 9.

The order to remove postings is specific to false accusations Levesque authored about Weitsman's involvement in the Harris murder, bribery and drug dealing.

"The speech at issue is clearly defamatory and, therefore, unprotected," the judge said.

A lawsuit, filed June 30 in U.S. District Court, sought from the ex-employee in excess of $200,000 to Weitsman and his business. Levesque worked for Upstate Shredding for three years until December 2014, according to the lawsuit.

A separate hearing on damages is scheduled in federal court on June 1.

"The false statements all relate to Upstate Shredding's and (Adam) Weitsman's profession," Weitsman's attorney said in the lawsuit, "and were calculated to inflict harm on their professional reputation and standing in the community."

Among the actions necessary to counter the offending Levesque remarks was payment of at least $36,000 to a public relations consultant to generate " positive media coverage and internet search optimization."  

"I have become less social, and even deactivated my Facebook account page, which had nearly 15,000 friends/followers," Weitsman said in the filings.  "My wife has been in distress and fears for her safety; [and] I have and will continue to suffer public humiliation, extreme emotional distress, anxiety, depression, stomach aches, headaches, muscle pain, lack of sleep, lack of a desire to eat, emotional pain and suffering, anguish, and loss of self-esteem." 

Additionally, Weitsman claims his far-flung operations have been affected because "certain metal and recycling business contacts have refrained from and/or decreased their business." 

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According to Weitsman's lawsuit, the legal action came after years of online accusations by the former employee and after he started posting photos of Weitsman's family online as well. None of the false accusations was reported to law enforcement officials by Levesque.

Michele Harris' disappearance on Sept. 11, 2001, remains a divisive mystery in the Southern Tier. The body of the 35-year-old mother of four from Spencer has never been found, and after four second-degree murder trials spanning nearly a decade, her estranged husband Cal Harris was found not guilty by a judge.

Upstate Shredding bills itself as the largest privately held scrap metal processor on the East Coast, operating 18 locations in New York and Pennsylvania. It has 400 employees company-wide and 130 in Owego.

The lawsuit documents included 19 pages of social media posts from Twitter and Facebook allegedly made by Levesque. Last June, Levesque was living in North Carolina. 

According to Weitsman's lawsuit, problems with Levesque's employment there began in March 2014, with bizarre and erratic behavior in the workplace. He was hired there as a scrap metal inspector in November 2011, records show.

The lawsuit also said Levesque once showed up to the office wearing a "satanic mask," and made racially motivated and other derogatory remarks toward Upstate Shredding customers. 

Upstate Shredding terminated Levesque's employment in March 2014, according to the lawsuit, but he was granted a second chance in April of that year.

But the behavior problems continued, court papers said, and his employment was terminated again.

Levesque allegedly began posting the defamatory statements sometime after moving to North Carolina, according to the lawsuit.

The Twitter account in which the postings were made is no longer active and the postings were removed after the lawsuit was filed.

Anthony Borrelli contributed to this report.

Follow Jeff Platsky on twitter @JeffPlatsky