egarrard
06-07-2005, 02:15 PM
http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_3836686,00.html
SANTA FE - Identified as a whistle-blower at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chuck Montaņo knows that smaller office spaces, menial assignments and emotional stress can come with such a tag.
But Montaņo says he never thought physical violence could be part of the deal.
Montaņo, fellow whistle-blower Tommy Hook, plus Hook's wife and lawyer, said Hook was severely beaten by four to six people outside a south Santa Fe bar early Sunday morning.
The assailants apparently wanted to keep Hook quiet, the lab employee's supporters said.
"They made statements to him during the course of the attack which indicated they were trying to intimidate him from continuing to engage in the disclosure of wrongdoing," said Bob Rothstein, Hook's attorney.
Hook and Montaņo filed a whistle-blower retaliation lawsuit earlier this year. Hook was expected to testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee about the lab later this month.
Staffers from the committee were expected to be in Santa Fe today to discuss his testimony. The committee has requested a report on the incident from the Department of Energy, a spokesman said.
Montaņo, a project leader in the lab's financial division, said he hadn't talked specifics with Hook about his testimony. However, "he had access to a lot of internal investigations that were done," Montaņo said.
Hook, 52, at one point had been a lab whistle-blower officer - a person employees could turn to with tips about fraud or waste.
"As high as he had been made him a very credible witness for Congress," Monta?o said.
Hook was recovering today at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and was reported in satisfactory condition. Photos of the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Hook released to the media Monday show he is severely bruised and has two black eyes. Rothstein said his client also has a fractured jaw and a herniated disk.
Hook's wife, Susan Hook, said her husband's assailants warned him to "start keeping his mouth shut."
Susan Hook said her husband left Los Alamos late Saturday night after receiving a phone call from someone who claimed to be an auditor at the lab.
The caller, with whom Hook was supposed to meet, didn't want to speak in Los Alamos and preferred to meet at Cheeks Night Club in Santa Fe.
After waiting more than an hour for the person to show, he went to the parking lot, got in his car and was about to put on his seat belt when the attackers pulled him out and beat him, Susan Hook said.
She added that her husband's wallet was not stolen and his car was left running when the attackers fled. Susan Hook was in Albuquerque at the time, visiting the couple's two sons.
The Santa Fe Police Department and the FBI are investigating the case. Rothstein said it's possible someone may have seen a license plate number of a car that left the scene, though a spokesman for Santa Fe police would only say officers want to interview potential witnesses.
The incident comes as the contract to run the lab has been put out to bid. The University of California, which has run the lab since it was founded in the 1940s, is facing competition.
In their lawsuit against the lab and the University of California, Hook and Montaņo claim they were retaliated against and denied meaningful work and promotions after they criticized what they say were procurement and other financial problems at the lab.
Montaņo said the university has created an atmosphere that's made it uncomfortable for people with negative information about the lab to speak truthfully.
"Whistle-blowers are viewed as enemies of the university instead of people who are to be listened to," he said.
In a written statement, the lab and the university said they were outraged by the attack and hoped for Hook's quick recovery: "Director (Robert) Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable."
The lab is cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Larry Neal, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the committee wants more information on what happened to Hook.
"News reports that imply retribution against a lab employee for speaking out are taken very seriously, and we have requested a full report on this matter as quickly as the Department of Energy is able to establish the basic facts," Neal said. I guess his attackers just testified to the veracity of his claims, didn't they?
SANTA FE - Identified as a whistle-blower at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chuck Montaņo knows that smaller office spaces, menial assignments and emotional stress can come with such a tag.
But Montaņo says he never thought physical violence could be part of the deal.
Montaņo, fellow whistle-blower Tommy Hook, plus Hook's wife and lawyer, said Hook was severely beaten by four to six people outside a south Santa Fe bar early Sunday morning.
The assailants apparently wanted to keep Hook quiet, the lab employee's supporters said.
"They made statements to him during the course of the attack which indicated they were trying to intimidate him from continuing to engage in the disclosure of wrongdoing," said Bob Rothstein, Hook's attorney.
Hook and Montaņo filed a whistle-blower retaliation lawsuit earlier this year. Hook was expected to testify before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee about the lab later this month.
Staffers from the committee were expected to be in Santa Fe today to discuss his testimony. The committee has requested a report on the incident from the Department of Energy, a spokesman said.
Montaņo, a project leader in the lab's financial division, said he hadn't talked specifics with Hook about his testimony. However, "he had access to a lot of internal investigations that were done," Montaņo said.
Hook, 52, at one point had been a lab whistle-blower officer - a person employees could turn to with tips about fraud or waste.
"As high as he had been made him a very credible witness for Congress," Monta?o said.
Hook was recovering today at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and was reported in satisfactory condition. Photos of the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Hook released to the media Monday show he is severely bruised and has two black eyes. Rothstein said his client also has a fractured jaw and a herniated disk.
Hook's wife, Susan Hook, said her husband's assailants warned him to "start keeping his mouth shut."
Susan Hook said her husband left Los Alamos late Saturday night after receiving a phone call from someone who claimed to be an auditor at the lab.
The caller, with whom Hook was supposed to meet, didn't want to speak in Los Alamos and preferred to meet at Cheeks Night Club in Santa Fe.
After waiting more than an hour for the person to show, he went to the parking lot, got in his car and was about to put on his seat belt when the attackers pulled him out and beat him, Susan Hook said.
She added that her husband's wallet was not stolen and his car was left running when the attackers fled. Susan Hook was in Albuquerque at the time, visiting the couple's two sons.
The Santa Fe Police Department and the FBI are investigating the case. Rothstein said it's possible someone may have seen a license plate number of a car that left the scene, though a spokesman for Santa Fe police would only say officers want to interview potential witnesses.
The incident comes as the contract to run the lab has been put out to bid. The University of California, which has run the lab since it was founded in the 1940s, is facing competition.
In their lawsuit against the lab and the University of California, Hook and Montaņo claim they were retaliated against and denied meaningful work and promotions after they criticized what they say were procurement and other financial problems at the lab.
Montaņo said the university has created an atmosphere that's made it uncomfortable for people with negative information about the lab to speak truthfully.
"Whistle-blowers are viewed as enemies of the university instead of people who are to be listened to," he said.
In a written statement, the lab and the university said they were outraged by the attack and hoped for Hook's quick recovery: "Director (Robert) Kuckuck, the University of California and the laboratory believe that any form of physical violence toward an individual is unacceptable."
The lab is cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Larry Neal, a spokesman for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the committee wants more information on what happened to Hook.
"News reports that imply retribution against a lab employee for speaking out are taken very seriously, and we have requested a full report on this matter as quickly as the Department of Energy is able to establish the basic facts," Neal said. I guess his attackers just testified to the veracity of his claims, didn't they?