THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 27, 1994 TAG: 9407270009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Again.
Earlier this year, retiring Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Frank Kelso came within an ace of being denied retirement at four-star rank because he was supposedly insufficiently sensitive to feminists' concerns, even though he ended up giving in on virtually all their demands. Then Adm. Stanley Arthur was forced to withdraw his nomination as commander in chief in the Pacific because he signed off on a Navy investigation that found no basis for a female aviator's complaints that she was dropped from flight training in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment complaint.
Now it may be happening again. Adm. Henry H. Mauz Jr., a Lynchburg native and the commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet here in Norfolk, is preparing to retire after a distinguished 35-year career. But a female lieutenant is asking that he not be allowed to retire at his four-star rank because he allegedly mishandled her sexual-harassment complaint. Adm. Mauz's retirement, which ought to be routine, will now be placed on hold while the inevitable investigation ensues.
Lt. Darlene Simmons, a Navy lawyer based at the Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Fla., has written a letter to Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., saying she was the subject of unwanted attention from a male officer in 1992. Far from being ignored, her complaint was substantiated and a non-punitive letter of reprimand was issued. Afterward, however, she says she became a ``target'' and that Adm. Mauz ``intentionally allowed sexual harassment, retaliation and reprisal by senior officers . . . to go unchecked.''
Absolutely not true, says Adm. Mauz. He says he quickly dispatched Cmdr. Cathleen Miller, his staff aide in charge of women's policy, to investigate the charges of retaliation. Lt. Simmons complained that her fitness report had been deliberately downgraded in retaliation for her complaint. Adm. Mauz investigated and had the report upgraded. Cmdr. Miller backs up the admiral's account.
If Adm. Mauz's version of events holds up - and right now, there is no reason to believe it shouldn't - it is hard to see how a senior officer could have behaved more responsibly. Lt. Simmons, incidentally, is represented by a lawyer from the Government Accountability Project, a Nader-raider organization.
Making its way through Congress is a bill sponsored by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ronald Dellums which is supposedly designed to prevent ``retaliation'' against women who file sexual harassment complaints. In practice, it would make it almost impossible to take disciplinary action against women in the armed forces. The chain of command would be broken, and discipline would suffer.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jeremy Boorda acquiesced in the destruction of Adm. Arthur's career over unfounded claims that the latter had not taken sexual harassment seriously. Will Adm. Boorda once again stand by and watch another of his senior commanders hung out to dry? ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ADM. MAUZ
by CNB