INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett has signed an executive order requiring all city-county employees to participate in an annual harassment training program following a sexual harassment scandal that has rocked Indianapolis politics for the last several weeks.
The order will take effect immediately and city-county employees who do not participate in the mandatory training will be subject to consequences, including termination. For the remainder of this year, employees will be expected to complete the training on or before Dec. 31.
The order follows weeks of controversy that have shed a spotlight on Hogsett’s handling of an investigation into one of his former aides, Thomas Cook, who was accused of sexual harassment and coercing a former city employee, Caroline Ellert, and a prior member of the mayor’s campaign team, Lauren Roberts.
According to previous reports, Cook was the center of three separate sanctions between October 2017 and October 2023.
Following the sanctions, Cook was prohibited from engaging in any romantic relationships with his co-workers. Cook resigned shortly after in December 2020 after being found to have reportedly violated a 2017 order to not be in a romantic relationship with any of his subordinates.
Hogsett indicated that he would be open to reviewing the city’s harassment policies during a council meeting last week. Sexual harassment training was previously required for supervisors only.
The Indianapolis mayor also took the opportunity to apologize to Ellert and Roberts during the meeting.
The city-county council has already indicated its intention to move forward with two proposals that could bring sweeping changes to the city’s sexual harassment policies. If these are approved, the committee could continue investigating how Hogsett handled the complaints previously lodged against Cook.
The mayor also announced that a national firm will be tasked with updating the city’s employee handbook after completing a thorough review of its harassment training.
