NATION : Agent’s Insubordination Denied

PEORIA, Ill. —  A lawyer for a former FBI agent told a federal judge today the government was wrong to fire his client in 1987 after he became a pacifist and refused to carry a gun or investigate peace groups.

“This is not an insubordination case,” said Arthur Greenberg, the attorney for Jack Ryan. “We’re dealing with an accommodation case. Did the government make a reasonable effort to accommodate his religious beliefs. They did not. They could have easily,” Greenberg said.

Ryan, 52, was fired Sept. 11, 1987, for insubordination after refusing to investigate the peace groups. He is suing in federal court seeking reinstatement.

Ryan, who turned in his gun as a convert to pacifism, recognizes that the FBI faced problems in trying to find a place for him after 21 years in the agency. But he says the government should not have fired him solely because his religious beliefs conflicted with his job.