Women's History

The Tailhook Scandal: 1994

Defendants: Las Vegas Hilton and Hilton Hotels Corporation
Charges: That Hilton Hotel failed to provide the necessary security that would have prevented the sexual harassment and assault on Lt. Paula Coughlin and many others.
Defense Lawyer: Eugene Walt
Lawyer for the Plaintiff: Dennis Schoville
Judge: Philip M. Pro
Place: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date of Decision: October 24, 1994
Verdict: Guilty of negligence; Coughlin was initially awarded $6.7 million in compensatory and punitive damages; it was later reduced to $5.2 million.
Significance: Coughlin's action forced the Navy to recognize the continual sexual harassment, rape, and assaults that women in the Navy had been enduring but that the Navy had ignored or hushed up. The other military organizations likewise sat up and took notice — a long overdue first step in rectifying a shameful situation.

In 1993, Lt. Paula Coughlin must have thought she had the world on a string. She was an admiral's aide, and what was more important to her, a helicopter pilot. She thought of the Navy as an extended family and looked forward to attending the annual Tailhook Association convention at the Hilton in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Coughlin might have been aware that "wild partying" went on in some areas during the convention. However, secure in her status as "one of the boys," she was in no way prepared for what happened to her in the third floor hallway of the Hilton. As she stepped off the elevator, she saw a drunken crowd of men. Despite her outraged protests, and amid shouts of "woman on deck" and "admiral's aide," she was forced to run a gauntlet of officers who grabbed at her breasts, her crotch and buttocks, and attempted to tear her clothes from her body.

Officers and Gentlemen
Coughlin was not alone. As a later investigation showed, many others — male and female — had suffered similar indignities at the hands of these "officers and gentlemen." Also devastating to Coughlin was that her boss, Admiral John W. Snyder, dismissed her complaint with a wave of his hand, remarking, "That's what you get when you go on the third deck full of drunk aviators."

Coughlin, deciding that it was not what she deserved, filed formal charges through regular Navy channels but as time wore on and nothing seemed to be happening, she "went public." Seven months later, the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) and the Navy Inspector General delivered their initial reports, describing in excruciating detail what had happened. By February 1994, they had investigated 140 cases of misconduct.

Congress designates officers as "gentlemen," a classification requiring certain behaviors and prohibiting others. However, the descriptions of the orgy and debauchery that had gone on was enough to raise eyebrows above the hairline. While some of the women were there willingly, there were 80 to 90 victims — including six officers' wives — who were not. Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett, III, immediately ordered the Navy and Marine Corps to begin disciplinary action against some seventy officers. Over 50 were implicated in forcing women to run the "gauntlet" and six were accused of blocking the investigation.

From the Top
In the military, "chain of command" means that those at the top are responsible for everything that goes on below them in their commands — right down to the lowest-rated sailor or soldier. There were many flag officers — admirals and generals — present at the Tailhook Convention who could and should have called a halt to the out-of-hand "partying" — including the chief of Naval Operations, Frank Kelso, as well as Navy Secretary Garrett.

Both men claimed that neither of them had seen anything "untoward" or had been anywhere near the scenes of the indecent "partying." Nevertheless, witnesses later placed both men near the infamous third floor, where the "gauntlet" had taken place. This caused Garrett's immediate resignation (without a thank you from President George Bush) and a humiliating struggle in the Senate over Kelso's early retirement. By a 54 to 43 vote, the Senate allowed Kelso to retire with his four stars in 1994.

The sad irony was that Admiral Kelso was known as a "gentleman of the old school" and both he and Garrett had spent some of their time in office trying to formulate ways of improving the status of women in the military and discouraging sexual harassment. Kelso also tried to open up more opportunities for women in the Navy. For example, in 1992, Kelso had urged the Senate Armed Services Committee to permit women to fly combat aircraft — a big step forward for ambitious women pilots in the military. In 1994, the Navy — perhaps shamed into the decision by the Tailhook debacle — agreed to allow women to serve on combat ships. The U.S.S Dwight D. Eisenhower — a carrier — was the first to be outfitted to accommodate the incoming women.

The Fallout
The fallout was blunt and to the point. Coughlin's boss, Snyder, was relieved of duty for ignoring his subordinate's complaints, putting an end to his career. Three admirals were censured (which also meant, most probably, the end of their careers) for failing to prevent or stop the misbehavior of the junior officers at the convention. Thirty other admirals received letters of caution to be placed in their permanent records. Nearly 40 lower ranking senior officers (captains and commanders in the Navy; colonels in the Marine Corp) were fined or otherwise disciplined with letters of censure or reprimand — putting a probable end to their careers as well.

Most of the junior officers escaped relatively unscathed. Although 117 officers were "implicated in one or more incidents of indecent assault, indecent exposure, conduct unbecoming an officer, or failure to act in a proper leadership capacity," not one was ultimately court-martialed or otherwise brought to public account. On the other hand, seven lieutenants, two junior-grade lieutenants and one lieutenant commander — all remained unidentified — were issued letters of admonition and each was docked $1,000 from their pay.

Unfortunately, some officers were unfairly caught in the cross-fire. One commander, the officer in charge of the Navy's Blue Angels, was denied promotion in 1995. Although he had been initially approved, a Senate committee and Navy Secretary John Dalton changed their minds after discovering that the officer had been in the area when the Tailhook scandal occurred. He had indeed been in Las Vegas during the crucial time, but he went there to receive an award and had been cleared by a Navy court of inquiry of any misconduct. Whether he will be promoted eventually has yet to be decided.

Even though Coughlin was able to identify her main assaulter, there were no corroborating witnesses willing to testify. In addition, in a pre-trial hearing, the accused's lawyer produced a picture of the man — alledgedly taken at the time of the Tailhook incident — in different clothing than Coughlin had described, and so the Marine general acting as judge dismissed the case. In addition, apparently all the officers interviewed either lied outright, "couldn't remember" due to overconsumption of alcohol, or they stonewalled, refusing to speak about anything that had happened or to implicate anyone. So in the end, the investigation ground to a halt with not one of the actual perpetrators held accountable for what they had done.

Coughlin v. Las Vegas Hilton
As a consequence, Coughlin (and six of the other victims) sued the Tailhook Association and the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel — and its corporation — for failing to provide the proper security for guests. The Tailhook Association settled with Coughlin before trial for $400,000 — and with six other women who likewise had sued charging sexual assault. They settled for an undisclosed amount, though their lawyers did admit to a sum in six figures for each victim.

After seven weeks of testimony, the jury awarded Coughlin $1.7 million in compensatory damages for emotional distress and $5 million in punitive damages. Judge Philip M. Pro later reduced the total amount. He deducted the Tailhook settlement from the $1.7 million compensatory damage and cut back the punitive damages to $3.9 million because Nevada law limited punitive damages to three times the compensatory damages.

The next chief of Naval Operations, the late Michael Boorda, who took over from Kelso when he retired in April 1995, had attempted to help Coughlin by transferring her to his office while he was still head of Naval Personnel. Nevertheless, hounded by hate mail, and emotionally exhausted, Coughlin resigned from the Navy in February 1995. As of May 1995, the Hilton Hotels Corporation appealed the judgment and sought a new trial, so the story is not over.

For Further Reading
Army Times Publications, August 16, 1994.
Glamour, November 1994.
Ladies Home Journal, November 1992.
Navy Times, August 22, 1994.
New York Times, June 14 and 17, 1992; October 22, 1993; March 13, 1995; May 12, 1995; and June 23, 1995.
Time, February 21, 1994; and May 2, 1994.

Source: Women's Rights on Trial, 1st Ed., Gale, 1997, p.312.