U.S. Coast Guard Sexual Misconduct Records Lawsuit - Operation Fouled Anchor
June 28, 2022 · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)
- Case Title:
- Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy vs. U.S. Coast Guard
- Case Type:
- Operation Fouled AnchorFreedom of Information Act (FOIA)Coast Guard Sexual AssaultSexual AssaultSexual ViolenceSexual HarassmentMaritime Sexual AssaultMilitary Sexual AssaultMilitary Sexual TraumaSuspension & Revocation (S&R)
- Filed in:
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY)
- Attorneys:
- Ryan Melogy
Case Summary
The Complaint alleges that the United States Coast Guard engaged in a decades-long, service-wide, top-to-bottom effort to conceal from the public and Congress its true record and policies regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment.
The Lawsuit was filed under the Freedom of Information Act, and sought more than 30 years of sexual misconduct investigation and disciplinary records from various components of the Coast Guard, including the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), the Office of Inspections and Casualty Analysis (CG-INV), the National Maritime Center, the Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge Program, and the Office of the Commandant.
This ground-breaking lawsuit was part of a years-long investigative effort by Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy (MLAA), attorney Ryan Melogy, and CNN reporters Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken. Documents and records obtained from the lawsuit were used to publish Failed oversight, lax punishments: How the Coast Guard has allowed sexual assault at sea to go unchecked, a bombshell print and television story by Ellis and Hicken, which aired globally.
The deeply-researched story exposed there had been zero criminal sex crime prosecutions of USCG-credentialed mariner in at least 30 years, and also featured powerful on-camera interviews with Midshipman-X Hope Hicks and Midshipman-Y.
On June 30, 2023—just three months after publishing Failed Oversight, Lax Punishments—Hicken and Ellis exposed the biggest military sexual assault scandal in U.S. history when they told the world about the U.S. Coast Guard’s Operation Fouled Anchor coverups in their story, Criminal investigation into Coast Guard Academy revealed years of sexual assault cover-ups, but findings were kept secret.
Records from MLAA’s lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard were instrumental in eventually breaking open Operation Fouled Anchor, which Senator Richard Blumenthal called, “the most shameful and disgraceful incident of coverup of sexual assault in the United States military—ever.”
Procedural History
- September 8, 2023: Justice4Mariners and U.S. Department of Justice file Stipulation and Order of Dismissal, ending the litigation.
- June 28, 2022: Complaint filed by Justice4Mariners against the U.S. Coast Guard.
News Coverage
- CNN: Failed oversight, lax punishments: How the Coast Guard has allowed sexual assault at sea to go unchecked
- CNN: Criminal investigation into Coast Guard Academy revealed years of sexual assault cover-ups, but findings were kept secret.
- MaritimeLegalAid.com: MLAA Files Federal Lawsuit Against the United States Coast Guard Seeking 32 Years of Mariner Sexual Misconduct Investigation Files, Court Records, and Secret Settlement Agreements