A Westmoreland County man is suing WTAE-TV and its parent company, Hearst Stations Inc., as well as reporter Marcie Cipriani, claiming his reputation was damaged by a news story concerning a marijuana arrest.

The suit, filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court in June but removed to federal court last week, claims that a video report and a subsequent online version of it have damaged the reputation of Thomas A. Morocco. Hearst argued “diversity of citizenship” in its motion to move the case to federal court, saying it operates in Nevada and New York; because Ms. Cipriani is in Pennsylvania, the motion said, federal law should apply.

According to the lawsuit, “The statements, implications, and innuendos made by Defendant Cipriani and/​or Defendant WTAE as described … are defamatory, libelous, and/​or slanderous in that they were assertions of false facts and not merely statements of opinion.”

Mr. Morocco inspects sewage lines for the Municipal Authority of North Huntingdon. According to court documents, he was approached by two agents from the state Attorney General’s Office while at work Dec. 17.

They informed him that a large quantity of marijuana had been discovered after the execution of a search warrant on the property of Mr. Morocco’s son, Thomas M. Morocco, the suit says. That initial search was done in Squirrel Hill, where the younger Mr. Morocco lives.

“The AG agents further informed [the elder Mr. Morocco] that they wanted to search [his] mother’s home. Because Plaintiff looked after his mother’s home during the winter months, Plaintiff agreed to accompany the AG Agents to his mother’s residence to consent to a search of the home,” the suit says.

Also present for the second search, this one in North Huntingdon, were the younger Mr. Morocco and his attorney, Owen M. Seman.

The next day, WTAE’s 5 p.m. newscast included a report by Ms. Cipriani, stating that the elder Mr. Morocco was “found at his home with 400 pounds of marijuana while on duty for the Municipal Authority,” the suit says.

Court exhibits — as well as the video report itself— also state “multiple sources tell us that Morocco was meeting people at the home of a relative when investigators from the Attorney General’s Office confronted him.”

Mr. Seman, according to the suit, talked to Ms. Cipriani by telephone after the 5 p.m. newscast about what appeared to be a mix-up. WTAE rebroadcast the report at 11 p.m. and also the following day.

The younger Mr. Morocco has since been charged with drug manufacture and distribution. He faces trial Sept. 12 in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court.

His father was briefly suspended from his job, and, after a Municipal Authority investigation, reinstated to his position.

“As a result of the conduct of Defendants, Plaintiff has suffered anguish, shame, embarrassment, and humiliation … ,” according to the lawsuit.

The elder Mr. Morocco’s attorney, Andrew G. Rothey, has filed a motion to remand the lawsuit to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Maria Sciullo: [email protected] or 412-263-1478 or @MariaSciulloPG.