LOS ANGELES -- A civilian employee at the Navy base at Point Mugu claimed Thursday he was harassed on the job because he is homosexual and asked for a federal investigation.
The American Civil Liberties Union formally asked for the investigation on behalf of civilian employee Tom Swann, 35, a missile contract analyst at the Point Mugu Naval Warfare Center in Ventura County.
A letter containing the request was sent to the Merit System Protection Board in Washington, D.C., an independent agency that looks into promotions and transfers involving civilians working on military installations, ACLU attorney Alan L. Friel said in a telephone interview. Friel expects to hear from the merit board within 15 days.
Swann said in a telephone interview that in mid-1992, a senior employee at the base threw a clipboard at him when he found out Swann was homosexual. Swann said only a few people at the base knew he was homosexual at the time.
'He questioned my right to have classified security clearance for the $15 million missile contract I was working on,' Swann said.
Swann announced that he was homosexual in a Dec. 26 Oxnard Courier newspaper article and spoke in favor of ending the ban on homosexuals. He said his supervisor told him not to make public comments about the ban.
Swann said when he continued to speak out, his supervisor transferred him back to an area where he was harassed.
Friel claimed the Navy was attempting to force Swann to resign.
A former Marine Corps sergeant, Swann has worked at the Point Mugu base since 1986.
