The mother of a former Nevada National Guard sergeant filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that her daughter died in part because of how the Guard treated her after she reported being sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier and suffered exacerbated health problems as a result.
Felicia Cavanagh, who lives in Washoe County, is alleging in the suit filed last month that her daughter Allison Bailey was left without health care after the Guard gave her an other than honorable discharge in January 2023. Two months later, Bailey was dead.
The Nevada National Guard said that while the situation was tragic, Bailey’s discharge was ultimately the result of performance failures. An internal investigation by the Guard concluded that Bailey had created a hostile work environment, according to both the lawsuit and the investigatory report.
Nevada National Guard Captain Emerson Marcus said that at the conclusion of the investigation into the former sergeant, Bailey was provided the opportunity to rehabilitate her career before she was discharged.
An investigation by state police into the the alleged assault Bailey reported ultimately concluded that there was not enough evidence to make a prosecution, according to Marcus. He added that the accused soldier voluntarily discharged from the Guard in January 2024, but said he could not confirm whether or not his departure was related to the allegations.
“This is just a very tough situation, a tough story, a tough thing for us to look back on,” Marcus said.
Bailey was 33 when she died from complications due to alcohol abuse, according to the complaint. Her two sons had found her in pain on the floor, and she refused to go to the hospital due to a lack of medical insurance, the suit said.
Bailey, who lived in Las Vegas, died days later on March 4, 2023.
Former sergeant reported sexual assault
Bailey had been left without health insurance after she was discharged in January 2023 and her request for medical retirement from the Nevada National Guard was refused, the complaint said.
She suffered from depression, aggravated by the alleged sexual assault in 2020, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and several health ailments related to alcohol abuse, the complaint said, citing medical records.
After a seizure in March 2021, doctors determined that Bailey was not fit for service, the lawsuit said.
But it was an investigation by the Nevada National Guard into allegations of bullying and harassment against her — which, according to the lawsuit, included that she had inappropriate sexual contact with a subordinate, the same person she said assaulted her — that led to her discharge, the suit said.
Marcus pushed back on the assertion that the investigation led to her being discharged and said that Bailey was “given more than a year to rehabilitate her career” after a report was created recommending she be removed from the Guard.
“Someone died here that didn’t need to die,” said Nathan Lawrence, the attorney representing Bailey’s mother. “A young woman died largely because she was retaliated against, or because she was at least ignored with respect to charges of sexual assault. That’s a fundamental human issue.”
Marcus said in a statement that — in the wake of a report by the state Guard alleging that Bailey bullied and harassed other members — the Guard will “continue to defend ourselves and junior enlisted troops from bullying and harassing behaviors that formed the basis for the soldier’s investigation and subsequent separation board.” This board determines whether a member should be removed from the Guard.
Marcus said that when given the opportunity, Bailey chose not to “plead her side of the case” or testify under oath.
A history of service
Bailey entered the Guard when she was 17, the complaint said. Over time, she rose to the rank of sergeant first class, and the lawsuit said she excelled at her work.
But in the summer of 2020, Bailey attended an event with her unit where she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a subordinate soldier, the complaint alleges.
She was later ordered to serve as a performance evaluator for the same soldier, the complaint said. Bailey subsequently requested a transfer away from the major who made the order — Major Laurie Macafee — and pursued a complaint to the Guard’s inspector general, according to the suit.
Marcus said that personnel records show that Bailey never evaluated the soldier.
In December 2020, Macafee held a session with soldiers asking about their work environment, procuring multiple complaints against Bailey in the process, the complaint said. The next month, a nonjudicial punishment proceeding was initiated against her.
“The Nevada National Guard takes it very seriously when more than a dozen Soldiers allege a superior non-commissioned officer is creating a hostile work environment,” Marcus said in a statement.
The investigative report was written by Major Michelle Tucay — who the complaint alleged was friendly with the soldier Bailey said assaulted her — according to a copy of the report. Marcus said that the report was not biased and that more than 30 people were interviewed throughout the process.
The allegations contained in the report, which concluded that 15 soldiers were bullied or harassed, included that Bailey had manipulated her chain of command, had a “habit” of sexual relationships with colleagues, forged documents and drank alcohol at work.
Tucay wrote in the report that Bailey was “an extremely intelligent manipulator of persons” and that the soldier who Bailey said assaulted her had been made to seek “professional mental health counseling from the anxiety she created.”
Ultimately, Tucay recommended Bailey be removed from the Nevada National Guard, the report shows.
No charges filed after state police probe
According to state law, a nonjudicial punishment can be imposed for a minor offense. The law also says that a soldier accused of an offense can’t refuse the proceeding in favor of a trial by court-martial, the complaint said.
The use of a nonjudicial punishment is a mechanism that Lawrence said raises important questions of law — namely, whether Bailey was afforded the full benefit of the legal process.
After the report against Bailey was made, Marcus said that she was given the opportunity to work from home in a new unit. But under these circumstances, Bailey “neglected to complete numerous tasks,” and the adjutant general at the time proceeded to a separation board hearing instead of a medical evaluation board, Marcus said.
Lawrence said that if Bailey’s behavior had changed due to the use of alcohol as a coping mechanism since the assault, it should have been “recognized for what it was” — an illness in need of treatment. Marcus said that Bailey did take part in a substance abuse program offered to her, but he could not confirm whether or not she graduated.
In September 2021, the National Guard Bureau made a finding that “adult sexual abuse” had occurred in the line of duty, the complaint said.
But, according to the suit, days later, the Nevada National Guard said that no charges would be filed against the accused soldier after an investigation by state police concluded.
Marcus said that the accused soldier voluntarily discharged from the Guard in January 2024 but said he could not confirm whether or not it was related to the allegations.
That September, Bailey was found guilty of the allegations raised against her. Her rank was lowered, and her pay was docked, the complaint said.
She appealed, but she never received a response, according to the complaint. The next year, the Guard issued her a notice of separation of service.
Sexual assault in the military
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, around 1 in 3 female veterans tell their Veterans Affairs health care provider that they experienced sexual harassment or assault while in the military, often referred to as military sexual trauma.
“The guard takes sexual assault very seriously,” Marcus said. Protocol dictates that state police investigate reports of assault, which is what happened in Bailey’s case, he said.
For many women, the experience of military sexual trauma “may continue to affect their health,” according to a webpage on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.
“This already substantial problem is unconscionably exacerbated if women are denied access to sound medical treatment and subjected to retribution for reporting these incidents,” Lawrence wrote in a statement. “This particular circumstance is so anachronistic and such a throwback to old bad behavior that should not be allowed.”
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky and @estellelilym on X.