THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110561
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Adm. Henry H. Mauz Jr., the Atlantic Fleet commander whose retirement from the Navy has been held up by allegations that he mishandled a sexual harassment complaint, has won the backing of perhaps the Senate's most influential member on defense issues.
Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced Wednesday that he'll support Mauz' nomination to retire as a four-star admiral. A committee vote on the nomination, sources suggested, could come as early as today, but no timetable has been set for consideration by the full Senate.
Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., who is acting as Mauz's sponsor in the committee, said Nunn's support will help his efforts.
``I'm optimistic that I can shepherd it through,'' Warner said.
Without Senate approval to retain all four of his stars, Mauz would retire with just two stars and would take a $1,275 cut in his monthly pension check.
Mauz's retirement was red-flagged by the committee last month after a Navy lawyer, Lt. Darlene Simmons, complained in a letter that he ``has perpetuated the discrimination against women in the U.S. Navy with his failure to take swift and tough action against sexual harassment.''
Simmons, whose charge that she was a harassment victim in May 1992 has been upheld by the Navy, contends that Mauz did not protect her from retaliation by other officers after she filed her complaint.
``Adm. Mauz intentionally allowed sexual harassment, retaliation and reprisal by senior officers in my command to go unchecked,'' Simmons wrote the committee.
Mauz also was accused of retaliating against a senior chief petty officer, George R. Taylor, who alleged improprieties at the Bermuda Naval Station in 1992.
Mauz has denounced both allegations as lies. Navy sources indicated last week that he had answered three questions posed privately by the committee about his involvement in the Taylor case, offering assurances that he had nothing to do with Taylor's arrest after the Bermuda allegations were aired.
Mauz's case is the third in recent months involving allegations that high-ranking Navy officials mishandled sexual harassment problems. In April, former Chief of Naval Operations Frank B. Kelso II narrowly won a Senate battle to retire with four stars after questions were raised over his handling of the Tailhook controversy.
And in June, the Pentagon withdrew the nomination of Adm. Stanley R. Arthur to command U.S. forces in the Pacific because of a dispute over whether the Navy had unfairly ousted a female helicopter pilot.
The retreat on Arthur, a much-decorated admiral who commanded naval forces during the Persian Gulf war, triggered a barrage of criticism on Capitol Hill and among the retired officer corps. Navy officials have defended their handling of his case but signaled early in the Mauz fight that they would not back off again. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Mauz
by CNB