Nine More Ex-Cadets File Claims Over Sexual Assault at USCG Academy
Nine more former cadets from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy have filed federal claims against the service for its failure to address a long-running pattern of sexual assault and harassment, as detailed by the service's own Operation Fouled Anchor report. The additional claimants bring the total to 22, all represented by Christine Dunn, a managing partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight's D.C. office. Dunn previously won a settlement for U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet Hope Hicks ("Midshipman X") in a high-profile sexual-violence claim against Maersk Line Ltd. in 2022.
The claimants have filed Federal Tort Claims Act administrative cases against the Coast Guard, alleging that the service failed to take action to prevent a foreseeable risk of sexual assault on campus at USCGA for decades. A comprehensive review by the Coast Guard Investigative Service found that sexual offenders from the corps of cadets were rarely referred for criminal prosecution, and many were allowed to remain in the service. The Coast Guard's previous leadership received a detailed CGIS report in 2018 and made an informed decision not to share the findings with Congress or the public - leading to an uproar when congressional oversight committees learned about the report from CNN.
The 22 survivors claim that their experiences at the academy could have been prevented, but that "the academy's leaders engaged in routine refusal to prevent or otherwise mitigate the danger posed to cadets by sexual predators, actively facilitating a dangerous environment." This included the academy's longtime policy of disallowing personal door locks in dorm rooms (recently reversed).
To prevail in an FTCA case, the former cadets will need to clear two hurdles: first, they will need to show that their injuries did not occur in the course of military service; and second, that the two-year statute of limitations for FTCA claims has not expired. Since the survivors' cases date back more than two years, the claimants assert that they only became aware of the Coast Guard's administrative failings when Operation Fouled Anchor came to light in 2023. As the report was revealed less than two years ago, this would be within the time limit for filing a claim.
"There's legal challenges here," Dunn told Law.com, acknowledging that it might not be an easy case. "I am not naive to that fact, and I think the strongest place legally to start is the academy because of 'Operation Fouled Anchor.' I am hopeful that this can expand and include enlisted Coast Guard as well."