INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett says he won’t release documents to show that his administration sought an investigation in 2017 of Thomas Cook, his former deputy mayor.
“To release all those documents to the public would undermine the very nature of providing a safe and confidential atmosphere for employees to come forward,” the mayor said at a press conference Thursday afternoon, where he fielded questions from reporters about how his administration handled allegations of sexual harassment involving Cook.
“To release a report would be counterproductive to what is bringing us here today,” Hogsett said after signing a proposal passed earlier this week by the Indianapolis City-County Council.
It calls for an independent investigation into the city’s policies regarding sexual harassment and how the Hogsett administration dealt with harassment complaints brought to the city’s attention.
Hogsett has come under intense scrutiny over the last month for how those complaints were handled, with some even suggesting he should resign as mayor.
“I have no intention of stepping down,” Hogsett told reporters when asked about those calls.
The mayor said he will cooperate fully with the investigative committee made up of seven councilors, five Democrats and two Republicans.
The committee will have the power to subpoena witnesses to testify in front of it, including Hogsett himself.
"It's never easy to learn about misconduct of any coworker, especially when it involves supervisors who were entrusted with the safety of their team,” Hogsett said.
RELATED: Survivors speak on alleged harassment by Mayor Hogsett's former chief of staff
The first allegations against Cook stem from 2015. That's when a former campaign staffer says Cook harassed her. That woman, Lauren Roberts, says she told the mayor about what happened in 2017.
Hogsett says he contacted outside legal counsel to investigate and Cook was sanctioned that same year.
“The sanction, by the way, in 2017, was a zero-tolerance policy. In other words, Mr. Cook was informed that he was to have no romantic relationships with anyone involved in the city-county enterprise,” said Hogsett, telling reporters he had a conversation with Cook himself.
“Whether there was a written record of it, you’d have to check with human resources. I do know that I made it clear to Mr. Cook that it was a zero-tolerance policy,” Hogsett said.
Lauren Roberts has said repeatedly that no one ever contacted her in 2017 as part of an investigation into her allegations against Cook. The mayor says that was up to the lawyers who investigated Roberts' claims.
“It would be inappropriate for me to tell the lawyers how to investigate a matter that implicated Mr. Cook and perhaps the administration or the campaign,” Hogsett said. “I don’t think anybody would encourage someone in my position to be telling professionals in an investigative inquiry how to do their job.”
"If we're trying to get to the bottom of everything and the person who's bringing the allegations, should somebody ask that person? Should somebody talk to them?” 13News reporter Emily Longnecker asked the mayor.
“I would have no disagreement with that,” Hogsett replied.
RELATED: 7 Indy City-County councilors named to investigative committee to dig into harassment claims
According to a written timeline provided by the mayor’s office, Hogsett asked Cook to resign from the city in December 2020, after an independent counsel’s investigation revealed Cook had violated those 2017 sanctions by having a romantic relationship with a city employee. According to that same timeline, a third party reported the relationship, which led to the investigation.
Then, last September, a second allegation surfaced from a second woman, Caroline Ellert who told Mayor Hogsett that Cook also sexually harassed her starting in 2018 when she started working for the city. In that case, the mayor says he reported Ellert’s claims to independent counsel hired by the city, which led to another investigation.
Even though Cook no longer worked for the city at this time, he was still a volunteer with the mayor’s re-election campaign.
"Once that investigation was completed, Mr. Cook was told he was not to have any more involvement at all in my campaign for reelection and that any contractual relationships he had with the city of Indianapolis was terminated,” Hogsett said.
In July, both Roberts and Ellert went public with their stories, speaking to the media, including 13News. The coverage sparked widespread criticism of the Hogsett administration and its workplace culture.
Since then, the mayor has signed an executive order calling for annual sexual harassment training for all employees, not just supervisors, along with an anonymous reporting system for complaints.
"Why did it take 10 months for this bigger look?” Longnecker asked of the changes. “It’s coming after these women have come forward to the media, and now something is happening. Did it take that? It would appear that it did."
“Well, it didn’t take any longer than October 2023 for me to act and take action against Thomas Cook regarding Ms. Ellert's allegations,” Hogsett replied. “As it relates to why we are here today, it is because the press has widely reported on these matters. The City-County Council has paired up with the administration to look into each and every one of these issues and resolve them in ways that provide safe and comfortable working environments for all city employees.”
“But why not start in October?” Longnecker asked.
“With respect, I think he's answered that question,” a member of the mayor’s staff replied.
“Mayor, do you think you bear any responsibility for what happened, as head of the city and knowing about some of these allegations since 2017?” Longnecker later asked.
“As mayor of the city, I do bear responsibility to make sure that we are doing everything we can to provide a safer, comfortable, equitable environment for every employee, and if that requires further discussion and changes to be made, I welcome,” Hogsett said.
According to the mayor, currently, there are six investigations taking place into complaints.
A seventh investigation led to Matt Pleasant, an administrator with the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development being fired just over a week ago for “violating the city’s sexual harassment policy,” according to the city.
Hogsett said in late July he held a meeting with his cabinet that led to an employee coming to him with concerns. The mayor said he referred those concerns to Human Resources, and the matter is under investigation.
The city also has plans to hire a national law firm with no local ties to review and make recommendations about the City-County Employee Handbook.