To Tell the Truth

But the company's lawyers have argued that Hamilton's medical condition did not impair him substantially or qualify him as disabled under federal laws protecting workers with disabilities. They also have a doctor who supports their claim.

The office altercation--and Hamilton's claims of stress related to his heroic rescue--make his lawsuit against Southwestern Bell a sticky one, in which claims about the existence of Project X play only one part. Even if Hamilton's lawyer is able to prove the existence of Project X--or if Southwestern Bell continues to remain silent on its possible existence--Hamilton still may not win his case.

Doug Hamilton is the son of an auto mechanic, the first in his family to graduate from college, and a born-again Christian. He can share moments of extreme optimism. But much of the time, he expresses deep-rooted concerns for his and his family's future.

His wife, Janet, has had good and bad years since discovering in 1986 that she suffers from multiple sclerosis. Recently she has been feeling pretty good, Hamilton says.

In August 1996, the medical insurance coverage he had received as an extension of his policy when he was at Southwestern Bell expired. (Federal law required the company to continue offering coverage to Hamilton for a period after his dismissal.) In its place, Hamilton has bought a patchwork of coverage which costs him a whopping $2,600 a month.

The work Hamilton has found in Chicago is helping cover those enormous bills. But as a consultant, Hamilton is paid only for the hours he works. When he takes time off to attend his trial scheduled for next month, for instance, he will not be paid.

Hamilton is debating these days about whether to take off when the judge has promised his case will be on the docket or to wait until the last minute, when his date is absolutely certain. He is also stewing about the events that have led to his predicament. He and his lawyer, he says, decided after the judge-ordered mediation led to no agreement that either they or the Southwestern Bell lawyers have terribly misjudged the case. "Someone has got something figured wrong," he says.

Hamilton has already been an accidental hero once. It was not his intention to become one again, he says, when he began protesting against Project