INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Democratic Party is speaking out on sexual harassment.
The party has fielded questions on the issue as Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett faces criticism over his handling of alleged sexual harassment by a former top aide.
One of the women who has come forward, Caroline Ellerts, worked in the Hogsett administration. Another, Lauren Roberts, worked on Hogsett's re-election campaign. Both say they were harassed by Thomas Cook, who worked as both Hogsett's chief deputy mayor and as a volunteer on the Hogsett campaign.
Roberts, Ellert and a third anonymous woman, have alleged that Hogsett didn't respond to the harassment properly. Roberts has alleged that members of the larger Democratic establishment were also aware of the allegations and did nothing to help.
The city has launched investigations into harassment in city-county government, and an investigative committee is being formed by city-county councilors.
On Sept. 10, the Indiana Democratic Party released a statement addressing sexual harassment:
“All workplaces in our state should be free from sexual harassment.
As an equal opportunity employer, the Indiana Democratic Party takes workplace harassment incredibly seriously. Indiana Democratic Party staff is unionized under a collective bargaining agreement, and employees of the party are supplied with an employee handbook which details the party’s anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures, including spelling out a detailed, independent reporting process to ensure no individual feels intimidated by having their voice heard and can freely share their experience without fear of retaliation.
Campaign and municipal employees are not employees of the Indiana Democratic Party, but of their respective individual employers. Anyone who is a victim of workplace harassment of any kind should report the incident pursuant to internal reporting procedures as may be required by their respective employer, as well as to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, any appropriate applicable governmental agency, or to law enforcement, depending on the situation.
We encourage all Democratic campaigns to have detailed anti-harassment policies and training and we are willing to connect campaigns with experts who work in this field.”