Lawsuit filed against leader of Indiana National Guard claims he used position, influence to hide affair

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A lawsuit has been filed against the leader of the Indiana National Guard.

In the complaint, Maj. Gen. Courtney Carr is accused of using his position and influence to keep an affair quiet.

Tyndall Armory is where the Indiana National Guard houses many of their family support programs. According to a lawsuit filed in Marion County, it was in that building where numerous extra-marital affairs occurred among subordinates and those in leadership, leading to a hostile work environment.

Carr has served in the military since the summer of 1983. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and he earned an MBA at the University of Chicago.

He was appointed adjutant general by former Gov. Mike Pence in 2015.

Carr was named in a nine-page complaint Thursday that alleges he used his position and influence to keep a former government contract worker out of work.

Shari McLaughlin was hired in May 2017 to work at Tyndall Armory in support of veterans and military families.

McLaughlin says she was quickly thrown into a work environment that was overheated with extra-marital affairs. In the complaint she says one of her coworkers was involved with two married men.

She also says her office mentor was involved with Carr.

McLaughlin filed a complaint with the Office of the Inspector General. Shortly after filing the complaint McLaughlin said the office environment turned hostile.

She says her locked office was tampered with and she received unwarranted write-ups.

Eventually McLaughlin left but was hired by another company shortly after leaving Tyndall Armory.

She was fired from her new job shortly before reporting to her first day of work. When she asked why, she was told Carr threatened to cancel the state contract of her new employer.

“So the the day that I was terminated, later that evening I received a text message stating that was the reason why I was terminated over the phone,” said Shari McLaughlin. “When the contracting companies HR manager reached out to me. He would not release any information about why I was terminated just said I was to stand down and not report to work.”

The Indiana National Guard released the following statement surrounding the complaint:

We are aware of the complaint against Major General Carr. Since this is a pending matter in litigation we are not able to comment any further.