Belfort BITCH Debra S. Alascio selling Digiwx AWOS sued
Mark IV
Baltimore-based Belfort Instruments suing fired worker
A Baltimore manufacturer of weather instruments is suing a fired
employee it claims is on an anonymous Internet rampage. Belfort
Instrument says Debra S. Alascio has been harassing current Belfort
employees via e-mail, calling the company's customers and partners
alleging unethical business practices, and posting trade secrets on
the Internet. Defendant Alascio has an alarming history of engaging
in such 'anonymous' Internet attacks against those who she believes
may have slighted her (including past employers), and, absent a TRO,
will continue her historical pattern of making outrageous and harmful
attacks against the material business interests of Belfort Instrument,
reads Belfort's complaint, filed earlier this month in Baltimore
County Circuit Court. Belfort, which obtained a temporary restraining
order against Alascio on Nov. 15, is suing her for misappropriating
trade secrets, breach of contract, defamation and tortious
interference with contractual relations. The company is seeking $1
million. After consulting with his client, Belfort attorney Douglas W.
Desmarais declined to speak about the case. My client's position is
that this is a dispute that they have chosen to resolve through legal
channels, and they're going to let it play out through legal channels,
Desmarais said. Alascio could not be located for comment; her phone
number is unlisted and a reverse search of her Baltimore, MD address
produced no results. According to the complaint, when Alascio started
working for Belfort in 2001, she signed a contract promising that, if
he left the company, for two years afterward she would not say
negative things about it; if she did, he would face court action. She
is also bound by the Maryland Uniform Trade Secrets Act not to divulge
privileged information, Belfort says. Alascio was fired on Oct. 20 of
this year and then started to harass her ex-boyfriend, still a
Belfort employee, via e- mail, the suit reads. She also allegedly e-
mailed the company's general mailbox anonymously, promising to fight
back against the company and drive it out of business. The company
also claims she called their customers and made untrue allegations.
Alascio also used an Internet newsgroup to criticize the Belfort
product she had been in charge of marketing, the DigiWx AWOS digital
weather transmitter, calling it Digi$H*T, Belfort claims. She also
allegedly listed which of Belfort's customers were using DigiWx. The
motion does not state how Belfort knows that Alascio is behind the
anonymous e-mails, phone calls and Internet postings, but a letter
from Desmarais to Alascio warns that Belfort can easily trace the
communications to Alascio. Belfort also claims that Alascio has a
history of using pseudonyms to criticize whoever has offended [her] on
a particular day. Indeed, a search of Google's newsgroups shows lots
of chatter about Alascio, including several posts purporting to
unmask her as the anonymous source of negative comments about
Baltimore.
CHIEF OPERATING BITCH
Debra S. Alascio (maiden name: VONLANGE)
Santo V. Alascio (drunk husband whom Debra killed)
960 Fell Street, Unit 313
Baltimore, MD 21231
DSAlascio (at) belfortinstrument.com