Retired United States Army Lt. Gen. Claudia Jean Kennedy served 31 years in the military. As the highest-ranking female officer in the Army, she was seen as a symbol of gender equity in the military. But in 1999, as she was nearing retirement, fellow officer Gen. Larry Smith was up for promotion to Army deputy inspector general – a position in which he would be responsible for investigating sexual harassment claims.
When Kennedy found out about Smith’s impending promotion, she decided – “out of loyalty to the Army” (according to an Army report about the matter) – to make known to her superiors that he was an inappropriate choice for the position. She charged Smith with touching her in an unwanted sexual manner and kissing her in 1996 when she was a major general and he was a brigadier general.
In 2000, the results of an inquiry by the Army’s Inspector General became public: The conclusion was, based on Kennedy’s credibility, that Smith had made wrongful sexual advances to her. Smith’s appointment was withdrawn, and he requested early retirement, expressing dismay at the Army’s decision to substantiate Kennedy’s allegations and insisting that he was innocent of the charges.
