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Los Alamos Whistle-Blower Assaulted
New Mexico police are trying to determine if an assault on a Los Alamos National Laboratory whistle-blower is related to testimony he was preparing to give to Congress on problems at the facility, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 21, 2003). An FBI spokesman said the bureau would take jurisdiction over the case from the Santa Fe Police Department if the assault was related to whistle-blower Tommy Ray Hook’s testimony. Hook filed a lawsuit against the laboratory in which he claimed his supervisors from the facility’s manager, the University of California, retaliated against him and a coworker after they alleged financial mismanagement. According to an account of the incident from Hook’s wife, Hook was asked late Saturday night to come to a Sante Fe nightclub by a person who said they had information of financial problems at the laboratory. Once at the club, he was pulled from his car and beaten, according to his wife. “When they were beating him, they said he needed to start keeping his mouth shut,” Susan Hook said. Hook’s attorney Bob Rothstein said laboratory management “has created an atmosphere in which it is uncomfortable to speak the truth. The university has not encouraged whistle-blowers and, in fact, has created an atmosphere in which whistle-blowers are regarded as enemies.” Hook remains in the hospital with a fractured jaw and spinal injury. He is one of a number of Los Alamos employees who have made allegations in recent years about poor security, financial problems and safety concerns. University of California officials released a statement Monday which says they are “outraged that a laboratory employee was the victim of a weekend assault in Santa Fe.” Robert Kuckuck, laboratory director, says in the statement that “any form of physical violence towards an individual is unacceptable. The laboratory is in contact with the Santa Fe Police Department and is providing the laboratory's full support and cooperation with the ongoing investigation.” The U.S. Energy Department, which oversees the facility, said the matter was being examined by the department’s inspector general (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, June 7).
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