INDIANAPOLIS — UPDATE: City-County Council President Vop Osili outlined a plan to improve the city's sexual harassment and discrimination protections for employees.
On Aug. 9, Osili and 16 other councilors outlined three steps they hope to take, after allegations that the city's former chief deputy Mayor sexually harassed employees, and that Mayor Joe Hogsett did not do enough to protect them.
The steps are:
- Creating an independent Human Resources branch to address sexual harassment and other discrimination complaints.
- Creating a commission to evaluate the city's current policies and outline ways the city can improve.
- Modify the city's code to give all employees mandatory sexual harassment training.
The plan came with a statement, that reads in part:
"As the legislative branch of local government, we are committed to working together to determine the necessary changes to the city’s policies and systems to ensure a safe work environment for all employees, now and into the future. Our priority is to create a workplace where every employee feels secure, valued, and supported. We are focused on implementing improvements that will bring greater accountability for all leaders, whether elected, appointed, or hired."
Earlier on Friday, Democratic candidate for governor Jennifer McCormick released a statement on the allegations at the Mayor's office.
The statement reads:
"The allegations of Thomas Cook's pattern of sexual harassment are deeply troubling, and I unequivocally condemn his actions. Mayor Hogsett’s apparent failure to address these issues appropriately highlights a systemic problem that demands a systematic solution. The women involved were let down by both individuals and the system, and their pain must be acknowledged. Both parties have issues of sexual misconduct that demonstrate the importance of transparency and accountability in leadership. We owe it to those affected and to all Hoosiers to create a safer and more accountable environment."
The statement comes after two women who say they were sexually harassed by former Chief Deputy Mayor Thomas Cook sent a letter to Mayor Joe Hogsett and City-County Council President Vop Osili on Aug. 8.
13News obtained a copy of the letter, written by Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert.
It reads, in part:
"We write today to continue our urgent calls for transparency, accountability, and bold action from the City of Indianapolis to implement stronger sexual harassment and abuse prevention policies, an independent reporting system, and comprehensive support services for survivors."
The women also outlined four steps they want the city to take to prevent future abuse:
- Hire third-party experts to audit and study the scale of the problem
- Train and educate all employees, not just management, on workplace rights.
- Provide an independent, third-party for survivors to report to.
- Extend no-cost mental health services to survivors.
Here is the full letter the women sent:
On Aug. 7, Councilor Jesse Brown (D-District 13) shared a statement calling for Mayor Joe Hogsett (D-Indianapolis) to step down.
Brown cites allegations of predatory behavior by Cook who is Hogsett's former chief deputy mayor.
"Any reasonable public official would recognize his culpability in these abuses," said Brown in a statement posted online. "Any good public official would make sure that such abuses never, ever reoccurred."
Brown said Hogsett has resisted calls for answers from city-county councilors.
"When councilors demanded a meeting with Hogsett to have their questions answered, only Hogsett attorneys and a silent, junior staffer attended the call," wrote Brown.
Brown said Hogsett has failed to make sure something like the allegations doesn't happen again.
"Even now, weeks after news of Cook’s pattern of predation broke publicly, Hogsett has not implemented a clear and confidential process for reporting sexual harassment, nor has he provided sexual harassment training for all city employees," said Brown.
13News has received a copy of a letter that went out to all city-county employees on Aug. 5.
It reads, in part, "sexual harassment training is mandatory for all city and county elected officials, councilors and supervisory-level employees of the city and county government."
The letter said that arrangements were being made for this mandatory training.
It went on to say "any employee who becomes aware of an incident of harassment, whether by experiencing the incident, witnessing the incident, or being told of it should report that incident to their immediate supervisor or any representative of management."
On Aug. 8, Hogsett said, "Every time a complaint was made, it was handed over to my legal team. It was fully investigated. Sanctions were leveled. He no longer works for me."
Hogsett also said he complied with the sexual harassment law passed in 2019.
The allegations of predatory behavior against Cook were revealed in reporting by the IndyStar and Mirror Indy. (Note: You can read more on the allegations in the before linked stories.)
When the story first broke, Hogsett posted a response on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The posts read, in part, "Sexual harassment reporting protocols were updated as recently as 2023. This Administration remains committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of every employee, and we will always seek ways to improve our policies and best practices."
Brown declined an interview, saying he wanted to give the administration and fellow councilors a chance to respond before speaking to the press.
Just before 1 p.m. on Thursday, the Republican caucus of the City-County Council announced they wanted an investigative committee to look into the allegations. They said they would introduce a resolution with Democratic councilors at the council's meeting on Aug. 12.
They released a statement that said, in part, "the fact that multiple women came forward over the years only to have their serious allegations about a senior administration official ignored is disturbing and need to be properly addressed."
The statement went on to say, "in order to properly restore the trust in our executive branch, we must have an outside body thoroughly investigate these and any other allegations that may exist."
City-County councilors weigh in
Thursday night, Osili posted a statement on social media, thanking Roberts and Ellert for their letter.
"To both of them, I want to say clearly: you are believed. You have been heard. And you are not alone in seeking change," he wrote.
Osili continued to say the female members of the City-County Council would be leading the council's "formal actions" in the matter and that more steps would be shared at a later time.
"As a woman in public service, I am both hurt and disgusted," said Councilor Jessica McCormick (D-District 16). "Any abuse of power by an employee in any sector is completely unacceptable and it is deeply troubling to know that this behavior persisted for many years. We must do better.
"This is the very behavior that women in the work place fear and it's time for that fear to end."
McCormick said she will work with councilors to review current policies and procedures and, where necessary, will amend ordinances to "ensure that the same system that failed women in the past does not continue to fail them in the future."
Councilor Brian Mowery (R-District 25) wants the council to establish a bipartisan investigative committee to look at how the city handled the matter.
"Very disturbing to see this has been going on for so long on so many accounts and its not been handled properly," Mowery said. "I don't think that's a good representation of the city and I don't think it's what we should be known for. It's very disturbing to know it's been let go for so long."
Mowery also called for an independent investigator to be brought in.
"Not someone that's been handpicked by the mayor's staff," he said.
"We do have jurisdiction over creating investigative committees that actually have subpeaona power that way you can really get to the bottom of what's been going on," Councilor Josh Bain (R-District 21).
McCormick said she will advocate for victims.
"It's never too late for anything. We can always fix problems. I wish we would have known earlier. As a woman, as a mother, as an aunt, I do not want to have this conversation with anyone and I'm dedicated to fixing this," she said.
"All the city employees need to know they work for a safe place and they can come to work and be safe and not have to worry about these kinds of issues," McCormick said. "Right now, I don't know that the trust is there, and I think through this investigative committee, potentially that could be something they feel again."
She said she would not take the mayor's resignation off the table as an option in the investigation, "but I do believe everybody has their day in court and through this investigative committee that's what we could have is an opportunity to supeaona people and bring them in and have them testify before us, so we have the whole story."