INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis City-County Council launched an investigation on Monday night into the sexual harassment scandal plaguing Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration.
The council voted to form a select committee that will investigate sexual harassment allegations against top city staffers and how Hogsett handled them.
The committee, which will include five Democrats and two Republicans, will hire an outside law or human resources firm to investigate the cases.
It all stems from allegations made by former Hogsett staffers Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert who said the mayor’s now former chief of staff and campaign manager, Thomas Cook, sexually harassed and assaulted them.
Investigations by the Indianapolis Star and Mirror Indy uncovered that Cook’s behavior was known to Mayor Hogsett for years.
Following the publishing of the Star and Mirror reports, the Hogsett administration acknowledged Cook was disciplined on three occasions over a seven-year span.
In each instance, an investigation found Cook had “inappropriate romantic conduct” with subordinate coworkers. He was disciplined but allowed to remain in his position until October 2023.
Since those allegations came to light, more victims have come forward. A city administrator was fired last week over sexual harassment allegations and six others are currently under investigation.
“I think it’s important that we take the time to do a deep dive about what has taken place over the last few years,” Majority Leader Maggie Lewis said.
The council passed Proposal 287 to officially form that investigative committee. It received overwhelming bipartisan support.
Democrat Ron Gibson voted “no” and said after the meeting that he has confidence in Hogsett and believes he should be given time to right the ship.
Republican Derek Cahill abstained over concerns that the proposal may expose victims.
Council leadership still has to decide which councilors will sit on this investigative committee.
The proposal says the committee will have to meet sometime in the next three weeks and then at least once a month until the investigation is complete.
The outside firm that will be hired to investigate the allegations will have to deliver a preliminary report to the committee by the end of April with its findings and recommendations.
“My goal is to see what happened, why it happened and how long it was known that it was going on and to be able to hold these bad actors accountable no matter which office they were in,” Minority Leader Brian Mowery said.
Mayor Hogsett applauded the formation of the committee in a statement following the vote:
“I commend the City-County Council for ensuring that their investigation as part of Proposal 287 will protect the confidentiality of any current or former City employee who was or may be involved in any claim of sexual harassment. In order to create a safer, better work environment, it is imperative that everyone who works for the City knows they can report harassment of any kind without fear of retribution, and that all investigations will be conducted in a confidential manner.
I remain committed to working with the City-County Council and the entire Administration to make continued changes to our policies and practices, both those initiated by my Administration and through this resolution.”
You can read the full proposal here:
