INDIANAPOLIS — UPDATE: On Monday Sept. 9, the Monday night, the City County Council voted to create a committee to investigate how the mayor’s administration handled sexual harassment complaints.
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City leaders are responding today to more reports of alleged sexual misconduct within Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration.
Reports published today say at least two other city employees also allegedly sexually harassed women who worked for the city.
These reports come in the wake of two women coming forward last month, alleging that Hogsett’s former Deputy Mayor Thomas Cook sexually harassed them while working for the city and the mayor’s election campaign.
Those two women, Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert, spoke to 13 News last month, detailing incidents of alleged sexual harassment while Cook was their boss.
Hogsett addressed published reports involving more allegations of sexual harassment within his administration.
In an email to city-county employees, Hogsett said the city’s human resources department is “currently investigating six allegations of harassment, with a 7th investigation leading to the firing of a city employee yesterday.”
In his email to city employees, Hogsett wrote, "A staff administrator in (the Department of Metropolitan Development) was terminated for violating the City’s sexual harassment policy.”
The email does not name that staff administrator.
Hogsett went on to write, "Regardless of what may be reported in the media, the City and our HR professionals will protect the confidentiality of those involved, including witnesses, who agree to provide evidence during any HR investigative process.”
Also in the email, Hogsett said on July 31, he held what he called “a frank discussion” with members of his cabinet and was approached by “an individual who had a complaint of misconduct against a former employee of the City who had resigned in 2023.”
The email does not name that former employee.
According to the mayor’s email, a complaint was filed and human resources moved forward in a confidential manner “to protect all parties involved.”
Hogsett issued a response about the investigations revealed in his email.
It said:
“We are in the process of continuing to foster a safer, better workplace culture where our employees know how to identify and report issues of misconduct and feel safe that their identities and information will remain confidential in doing so. It is of critical importance to me that every person who serves our community in the City-County enterprise understands they can report inappropriate behavior of any kind without fear of retribution, and that all investigations will be conducted in a confidential manner.”
Last month, Hogsett signed an executive order requiring all city and county employees to have sexual harassment training. Some members of the Indianapolis City-County Council have called for an investigative committee to look into how the allegations of sexual harassment against Cook were handled.
A decision about creating that committee and who will sit on it will be made next week.
Republican City-County Councilman Brian Mowery issued a response about reports of more alleged sexual harassment within the city.
Mowery said those reports showed what he called “systemic problems within the mayor's administration.”
The statement also referenced reports that the culture inside the administration was toxic and sexual harassment was common.
In his statement, Mowery said, "If this is true, it is completely unacceptable, and the Mayor must be held accountable."
Mowery's full statement:
"The new report today from the IndyStar has made it clear that there are systemic problems within Mayor Hogsett's administration. According to the IndyStar, they spoke with 'more than 25 current and former Hogsett administration staffers...Many said Cook's behavior was not isolated, but rather indicative of a toxic culture where sexual harassment was common...' If this is true, it is completely unacceptable, and the Mayor must be held accountable.
As we have said from day one, the Republican caucus is committed to working in a bipartisan fashion to investigate what has occurred, and work to create a path forward to ensure our city-county government never turns into such a 'toxic culture' ever again."