Hughes Ex-Worker Had Job Injury Dispute

The former Hughes Electronics worker who returned to the company’s El Segundo plant Wednesday and is charged with shooting three people had been locked in a battle with the aerospace giant over workers’ compensation benefits for four years, according to Hughes officials and documents obtained by the Times. The case was settled in January for $40,000.

Walter J. Waddy, 62, arrived at the massive complex Wednesday morning wearing a neck brace and wanting to speak with someone about “medical benefits he was entitled to,” said Hughes spokesman Don O’Neal. Waddy was charged with attempted murder and is being held in the Men’s Central Jail on $1.5 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

As the yellow crime-scene tape came down Thursday and the atmosphere at the plant returned to near-normal, the most seriously injured of the victims took a turn for the worse. Ramon “Ray” Ramirez, 60, underwent a second surgery to stem bleeding from his liver, perforated by a .38-caliber bullet. After having been upgraded Wednesday to serious condition after his initial surgery, he was again in critical condition Thursday.

“He’s critical, but doctors . . . expect him to recover,” said UCLA Medical Center spokeswoman Simi Singer.

Officials at Pinkerton’s Inc., which contracts with Hughes for security services, confirmed witnesses’ accounts that Ramirez, a sergeant whose primary duties were administrative, was shot shortly after filling in for a guard who wanted to take a brief break.

“He did relieve her,” said Pinkerton’s spokesman Dereck Andrade, who declined to release the name of the other guard. “She very easily could have been the person who walked up” to the gunman. “She’s very distraught.”

Saul Reyes, 18, a maintenance worker at Hughes, said he came out of a nearby men’s restroom and the other guard came out of the women’s after hearing a gunshot. They saw Ramirez lying on the ground bleeding and talking into his radio.

“She was really shaken,” Reyes said. “That could have been her.”

Waddy, a longtime Compton resident, arrived at the plant shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dep. Brian Jones said. After parking, Waddy walked toward the plant’s security and identification building, encountering Raymond A. “Tony” Rojas, 41, a Hughes staff engineer for 17 years.

Waddy asked if Rojas worked for the company, Jones said, adding that when he replied that he did, Waddy shot him in the shoulder.

Waddy then entered the plant’s security building and shot Phillip Gonzales, 55, in the hip as he sat at his desk, officials said. He then continued on to the main building of the company’s satellite complex, where he shot Ramirez, Jones said.

After each shooting, sheriff’s officials said, Waddy removed the spent shell casings and reloaded his snub-nosed revolver.

Although Hughes officials and police said they were not certain what had angered the electronics technician, Waddy has a voluminous file with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board relating to injuries apparently suffered on the job and his attempts to receive medical benefits. The documents appear to indicate that the two sides tussled over what, if any, benefits Waddy should receive, and the seriousness of any injuries suffered at his $17.24-an-hour job.

According to the documents, Waddy contended that he was first injured May 17, 1991, when a machine he was working on jerked violently, causing him lower back pain.

On Nov. 11, 1991, Waddy later said, he was slapped on the back of the neck by one of his supervisors and felt immediate pain in his neck. Since then, he said, he has had pain in his lower back and neck.

He received physical therapy after both injuries, according to the documents.

In the summer of 1992, Waddy took a five-month unpaid medical leave, said Ted G. Westerman, senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Hughes Electronics. He returned in the fall and worked until May 19, 1993, quitting because of back and neck injuries and poor hearing.

In a news conference Thursday, Westerman said the company had been paying for Waddy’s medical coverage until the $40,000 cash settlement.

“A serious dispute exists between the parties regarding the nature and extent of disability, self-procured treatment, medical-legal expense . . . and future medical care,” read documents dated Jan. 16, when both sides settled the dispute. “The parties wish to avoid the hazards of litigation and defendants wish to buy their peace. The applicant desires a lump sum settlement.”