Suit Alleges Harassment by Rockwell

A former aerospace worker at the Johnson Space Center in Houston who blew the whistle on alleged fraud on the space shuttle has accused Rockwell International of a bizarre scheme of harassment, according to a court brief filed Thursday.

Ria Solomon alleges in a federal suit that Rockwell security agents illegally used information from a Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal information computer to discredit Rockwell engineers who were corroborating her allegations.

Solomon is suing Rockwell in U.S. District Court in Houston under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. A fellow worker who was a co-plaintiff in the suit settled with Rockwell earlier this year.

The suit brought by Solomon alleges that after she reported time-card fraud and technical problems on the space shuttle program to a Rockwell ombudsman, the company’s security department began a campaign of harassment.

Solomon worked for Unisys, a subcontractor under Rockwell at the Houston center. Rockwell manages certain functions at the Houston center for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Solomon was fired by Unisys in May, 1987, and sued later that year, naming both Rockwell and Unisys. She settled with Unisys last year.

Rockwell officials could not be reached for comment.

In the court filing Thursday, Solomon alleges that Rockwell assistant general counsel Bette Bardeen directed two Rockwell security agents in Houston to gather evidence to discredit witnesses for Solomon.

Logs compiled by the two security agents, Danny Myers and James Roberts, indicate that their activities were reported to Bardeen, according to Lynne Bernabei, Solomon’s attorney.

Myers was also a police officer in El Lago, a Texas municipality. He used that connection to use the FBI’s national criminal information computer to obtain information about a witness in the suit, the legal brief alleges.

The brief also alleges that Rockwell security agents conducted physical surveillance of a second witness in 1987 and 1988. When the witness reported suspicious activity to the local police department, the agency notified Rockwell of the report, according to the brief.

The police agency also allegedly destroyed a report identifying individuals who were making harassing telephone calls to the witness.