Coast Guard Cutter Healy returns home to Seattle on Dec. 12, 2024, after more than five months at sea. The Coast Guard temporarily suspended a policy intended to eliminate harassment while it reevaluates guidance issued in 2023. (Annika Hirschler/U.S. Coast Guard)

The Coast Guard is pausing a policy intended to eliminate harassment while it reevaluates guidance issued by the service’s recently ousted top admiral.

The “Harassing Behavior Prevention, Response, and Accountability” instruction was suspended pending a 90-day comprehensive review, acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in a message Monday to all Coast Guard members.

The policy defined “harassing behavior” to include harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, hazing, retaliation and reprisal. It consolidated reporting, investigation and other procedures related to harassment and outlined corrective action for substantiated incidents.

It allowed anyone, civilian or military, who witnessed or was subject to behavior believed to be harassing to make a complaint to any person of authority in the member’s or employee’s chain of command.

Lunday did not say why the policy was put on hold, but his message emphasized that harassment is still prohibited by military general order, and he directed leaders to “act promptly in response to any allegation of misconduct.”

Pending complaints made under the suspended policy should be resolved at “the lowest appropriate level,” Lunday said.

He also directed leaders to defer action until the Coast Guard Investigative Service, which has the authority to conduct criminal investigations, declines or completes an investigation.

Investigation and resolution of sexual harassment complaints will still follow standard requirements, Lunday said, but “proof by preponderant evidence” is required for a complaint to be reported to the service’s anti-harassment program and taken on by the chief prosecutor.

Commands should defer processing for separation until the chief prosecutor gets involved, he said.

Hate incidents will continue to be investigated per current rules, Lunday said, and Coast Guard personnel are still able to file other complaints, such as those pertaining to equal-opportunity protections.

Coast Guard acting Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday on Jan. 27, 2025, temporarily suspended a policy by his predecessor that was intended to eliminate harassment. That policy is under review. (U.S. Coast Guard)

The now-suspended instruction was issued in 2023 by Adm. Linda Fagan, who was relieved of her post Jan. 20 by the new administration of President Donald Trump.

Fagan was fired because she failed to address border security and meet recruiting and retention goals, mismanaged acquisitions and lost trust with the force in her handling of the cover-up of a sexual assault scandal at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a senior Homeland Security Department official said on condition of anonymity, Stars and Stripes reported at the time.

An internal investigation known as Operation Fouled Anchor, which was summarized in a January 2020 report, concluded that academy leaders hadn’t ensured a safe environment for cadets, yet no one was held accountable.

Fagan was the first female officer to lead a branch of the armed forces. Another reason for her dismissal was that she “excessively focused” on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives among Coast Guard members and at the academy, the Homeland Security official said.

On Jan. 21, Trump issued an executive order eliminating all Defense Department diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a directive he characterized as an effort to promote leadership and merit in the military.

The order also applies to the Coast Guard, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security.

The service has come under fire in recent years for its poor handling of sexual harassment and assault claims.

In March 2024, a government watchdog agency’s report, citing Coast Guard data, found that 263 sexual harassment allegations were reported between September 2020 through April 2023.

Of those, 62% were substantiated, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office.

The GAO found that the Coast Guard had taken action to address sexual assault and harassment but needs to develop a plan to evaluate its actions.