Washington ? A lawyer for Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, called a “person of interest” in the anthrax attacks, demanded Thursday that Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft find the fired researcher a new job.

Attorney Victor Glasberg wrote in the letter that Hatfill was fired from his job as a researcher and probably won’t be able find employment because of the Justice Department’s “inappropriate actions” in naming him a person of interest.

“With all due respect, it is proper for you to take the lead in setting this right immediately,” Glasberg wrote.

The letter also asked why Hatfill had been targeted by the Justice Department and FBI.

The department had no immediate comment.

Louisiana State University fired Hatfill on Wednesday from his job with the university’s National Center for Biomedical Research and Training after an e-mail from the Justice Department surfaced, ordering the university to stop him from working on federally funded projects. LSU spokesman Gene Sands said Hatfill’s firing was not related to the e-mail.

In addition to the letter, Glasberg has filed a complaint with the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, saying the Justice Department leaked information to the media and allowed FBI agents to harass Hatfill’s girlfriend. He also complained that the department intentionally blacklisted Hatfill.

Glasberg also asked the agency to define what a “person of interest” is, saying the intention in using the phrase appears to be to defame his client.

“This functional equivalent of blacklisting is reprehensible and sanctionable,” Glasberg wrote.

Also in the complaint, Glasberg quoted Hatfill’s girlfriend, who was not identified, as saying FBI agents ransacked her apartment and told her Hatfill was a murder suspect.

University officials confirmed Thursday that they also fired Stephen L. Guillot, director of the National Center for Biomedical Research and Training and the Academy for Counter-Terrorist Education.

Sands declined to discuss why Guillot was fired, saying it was a personnel matter.

Law enforcement officials have said Hatfill, 48, is not a suspect in the deaths of five people killed by anthrax-tainted letters. They also have said no evidence links him to the letters.