City-County Council to vote Monday on sexual harassment investigation
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The City-County Council is expected to vote Monday night on establishing a committee to investigate sexual harassment allegations against city employees and officials.
Why it matters: Councilors are grappling with a problem that appears to extend beyond Mayor Joe Hogsett's former deputy, Thomas Cook, whose behavior prompted the initial proposal.
- New reporting from the IndyStar shows a pervasive culture of sexual harassment within the City-County Building that one woman described as a toxic work environment for female employees.
Driving the news: The proposal on Monday's agenda would create a committee that would contract with an independent law and/or human resources firm to "thoroughly examine and investigate allegations against members of the Hogsett administration" and recommend policy changes.
- The seven-member committee would have five Democrats and two Republicans, to be appointed within three days of the council's vote to create it.
How it would work: The committee would start meeting within three weeks and meet at least once a month.
- It would have the power to subpoena witnesses and documents.
- The firm it contracts with for the investigation would submit a report by the end of February.
What they're saying: "I'm really proud of the (proposal)," Councilor Ali Brown, who helped write the proposal, told Axios. "It allows us to look into not only the accusations against the original predator but also others that some of us had heard about."
- "We want to make sure we never shut the door on any survivor who wants to come forward."
Catch up quick: Three former employees of Hogsett's administration and campaign — Lauren Roberts, Caroline Ellert and an anonymous third woman — have publicly accused Cook of sexual harassment, assault and abusing his power in the workplace.
- Cook resigned from the mayor's office in 2020 and then worked for Hogsett's campaign last year before being asked to step down over more complaints.
- Last week, Matt Pleasant, an administrator in the Department of Metropolitan Development, was fired after an investigation into "inappropriate sexual misconduct."
- Rusty Carr, former DMD director, is also being investigated over allegations he sexually harassed employees.
"Workplace harassment, intimidation, bullying and assault are far too common in every workspace," Brown said. "The fact that it happened inside of this administration is very, very concerning.
- "Is it a culture? Is it a lack of supervision? I don't know. My goal is not to get retribution," she said. "It's to get justice and do what I can to ensure this never happens again.
- "The city of Indianapolis should be better than this."
The latest: The city has created an anonymous system for reporting harassment and Hogsett said in a statement that he "remains committed to working with the City-County Council and leaders of this administration to make continued changes to our policies and practices that ensure a safe and equitable workplace for all."