Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 09:52:40 -0500 From: Chris Hagin Subject: Officer Claims He Was Harassed, Caned After Being Labeled Gay COMPILED FROM NEWS WIRE SERVICES Date: Wed, 15 Mar 1995 Officer Claims He Was Harassed, Caned After Being Labeled Gay HARTFORD, Conn. -- A police officer sued his boss and others for alleged harassment, claiming he was mocked and beaten on the job after being falsely labeled as gay. Richard C. Segreto Jr., of the state Capitol police, claims the abuse began in 1989, after Capitol Police Chief Anthony Murphy found out Segreto didn't have sex with a female co-worker he had been dating. ``I guess because he didn't have sex with a fellow female officer, Murphy decided he was a homosexual,'' said James S. Brewer, Segreto's attorney. The civil rights lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court. Segreto, 27, sued Murphy, two Capitol police supervisors and other state officials. Murphy didn't immediately return calls seeking comment. Segreto, of Bristol, alleges the harassment began with name-calling and escalated into taunts and physical abuse. He says he was hanged upside down by his ankles and had his head stuffed into a urinal by other officers at a 1989 department party. Murphy is accused of, among other things, pasting Segreto's photo on pictures of gay men and posting them on the department's bulletin board, and hitting Segreto with a rod known as ``The Segreto Beat Me Stick.'' Warm regards, S. CHRISTOPHER HAGIN Atlanta 1996 chagin@atlanta.com HATE IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE