Harassment in the Senior Ranks
NYTimes on the Web - EDITORIAL, May 12, 2000
The Army inspector general's office has substantiated the accusation by Lt.
Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the Army's highest-ranking woman, that she was sexually
harassed by another Army general, according to defense officials. The disturbing
case shows that ending harassment of women is no easier in the top officer ranks
than it is in the barracks.
General Kennedy filed a complaint against Maj. Gen. Larry Smith last summer
after General Smith's appointment as the Army's deputy inspector general, whose
duties would include investigating sexual misconduct complaints. She charged
that General Smith had touched her inappropriately and tried to kiss her in her
Pentagon office in 1996. Army officials have said that she did not complain,
even informally, to her superiors at the time of the incident. But investigators
were able to interview friends and colleagues who were told of the incident soon
after it occurred, and they came to believe General Kennedy's account.
If the findings are upheld by higher authority, General Smith may be forced to
retire and given only a reprimand, because, officials say, the incident does not
merit prosecution under the military code of justice.
By stepping forward to oppose General Smith's appointment to a sensitive
position, General Kennedy has done the Army a great service. But she was
criticized both inside and outside the military after her complaint became
public. She was even accused of personal misconduct by a retired Army officer
whose charges were found to be baseless. Such attempts to undermine her
credibility show how much more work needs to be done to eliminate retrograde
attitudes toward women in the military.
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