National Guard faces lawsuit over handling of domestic abuse allegation

The woman who says a former top legal adviser to the Indiana National Guard broke her foot in a domestic dispute is now suing the Guard and its top commander, alleging they failed to adequately respond to her complaints.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of Shannon Dickerson accuses the Guard and Adjutant General Martin Umbarger of failing to investigate her domestic violence allegations against her then-husband, Lt. Col. Brian Dickerson, who was Umbarger's top full-time legal adviser at the time.

The lawsuit also says the Guard and Umbarger failed to enforce a court order against Dickerson as part of his divorce from his wife, Shannon Dickerson. The court order required him to pay maintenance, child support and uninsured medical expenses.

"The Indiana National Guard at no time took Shannon's allegations of abuse seriously," the suit says. "There is no evidence that the allegations were properly evaluated, assessed, and/or timely reviewed."

Guard officials "rarely" returned her phone calls, emails, or messages, the lawsuit says, and "essentially 'kicked the can' by referring her to some other Indiana National Guardsman, generally a commander."

As a result, the Guard failed to follow Army regulations and violated Shannon Dickerson's right to due process, the lawsuit says. It seeks an unspecified amount of damages.

Lt. Col. Cathy Van Bree, a spokeswoman for the Guard, declined to comment on Monday, saying the agency had not yet seen the lawsuit. It was filed late Friday by Alex Beeman of Indianapolis-based Ciobanu Law.

The Indianapolis Star reported in January that the Shannon Dickerson had accused her ex-husband of beating her in December 2008 and twisting her foot until it snapped like "when you break a turkey leg off at Thanksgiving."

Brian Dickerson, who is not named in the new lawsuit, has denied the allegation, but a Hendricks County judge in the couple's divorce case ruled that he was responsible for his then-wife's injury.

He has since been re-assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit in Fort Knox, Ky., according to the lawsuit.

He declined to comment on Monday, saying he had no knowledge of the lawsuit.

Shannon Dickerson previously told The Star that she informed Umbarger about the abuse in 2009 — nearly three years before Umbarger acknowledges he became aware of the accusation.

Umbarger told The Star he conducted a formal investigation of the incident about a year-and-half after learning about it. He has not released the results of that investigation.

The new lawsuit alleges that Umbarger never initiated an investigation, or that if he did, it "appears to have lacked all formality" and did not conform with Army regulations.

Unsatisfied with the Guard's handling of her case, Shannon Dickerson later filed a complaint with the Pentagon in January 2014. That prompted an investigation is still ongoing, Van Bree said.

Call Star reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.