Case Studies in Busines - Essay Example

The Army has been forced to deal with several high-profile sexual harassment cases. Its former top enlisted man was court-martialed on sexual-misconduct charges, but a jury cleared him of all but an obstruction of justice count. A retired major general was convicted at court-martial of having affairs with the wives of his subordinate officers. (Scarborough, 2000) The case of sexual harassment is related to the top-ranking generals of the United States army – Lt. General Claudia Kennedy and Major General Larry Smith.

The incident was occurred in October 1996. Initially, the incident was avoided even it was not confirmed that whether the inquiry was in progress or not. Later, it was confirmed that the Army inspector general (IG) was investigating Gen. Kennedys charge. Kennedy became famous and had been the focal point of the media in the year 2000 as a general who has accused another general. She lodged her complaint when she was the deputy chief of staff for intelligence that she was accused by the Major when she was a major general and assistant deputy chief for intelligence.

During the case, Kenneth Bacon, spokesman for Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said that the Pentagon policy is "a zero tolerance for harassment. And thats been made clear by Secretary Cohen and by all military leaders. There are established channels for reporting allegations of harassment. And the IG is one of those channels." (Scarborough, 2000) Major General Smith gave his clarification by saying that he did not harass her and denied the charge. He told the investigation team that he only gave her a hug and perhaps a light kiss as they concluded an Oct.

11, 1996, meeting. The critiques also raised some concerns as why did she go to the army inspector general with her complaint about the Smith’s act, when he was announced to be the next deputy inspector general of the army, a