June 29, 2008
Fired Louisiana State Researcher Wins Settlement in Anthrax Terror Lawsuit
Steven J. Hatfill, a former Army biodefense researcher who was named as a "person of interest" in the high-profile federal investigation of fatalities and injuries caused by anthrax sent by mail in 2001, has settled his lawsuit against the government for $4.6-million, The New York Times reported.
At the height of the investigation, in 2002, Dr. Hatfill was fired from his position as associate director at Louisiana State University's National Center for Biomedical Research and Training. The turmoil at the center surrounding Dr. Hatfill's employment during the investigation, and a directive from the U.S. Department of Justice that Dr. Hatfill be barred from participating in any research paid for by the department, also led to the dismissal of Stephen L. Guillot, the center's director. At that time, the Justice Department provided 97 percent of the center's financing.
Dr. Hatfill vigorously pursued his lawsuit against the federal government, winning a number of court orders compelling journalists to testify about where they had received information on the case.
Though Dr. Hatfill was never officially deemed a suspect in the case, his public naming as a "person of interest" by the attorney general at the
time, John Ashcroft, and high-profile searches and surveillance of his home placed the
researcher firmly in the public spotlight. Dr. Hatfill's academic past also was scrutinized, and investigations into his credentials revealed that he had
falsely claimed to have received a Ph.D. in molecular cellular biology from Rhodes University, in South Africa. -Richard Byrne
http://chronicle.com/news/article/4763/fired-louisiana-state-researcher-wins-settlement-in-anthrax-terror-lawsuit?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
http://newsfeedresearcher.com/data/articles_n27/idn2008.06.29.12.18.49.html
(The long version of what happened.)
