INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis city government has fired a staffer after finding he violated the city’s Workplace Harassment Policy.

The city provided a document outlining the termination to News 8.

Matt Pleasant was formerly the administrator of the division of current planning. He was fired after being sent a notice that the city had received allegations of inappropriate sexual misconduct on July 22.

After an investigation, the city government says, it found “overwhelming evidence that supports the allegations.”

Just days after the investigation into Pleasant started, someone approached Democrat Mayor Joe Hogsett with sexual harassment allegations against another city employee, Rusty Carr.

Carr resigned as the director of the Department of Metropolitan Development in 2023. Carr then went to work for The Parks Alliance of Indianapolis.

In a statement, Hogsett said he immediately forwarded the allegations against Carr to the city’s human resources department.

The Parks Alliance told I-Team 8 it did not know about the allegations against Carr when he was hired. When they found out they immediately accepted his resignation.

In the wake of these new allegations, Republican City-County Council Member Brian Mowery called for Hogsett to be held accountable.

“Accountability for me is going to be a thorough investigation into what’s been going on, and how long it’s been going on, and why it’s been able to go on for so long,” Mowery said.

Does he want Hogsett to step down, to resign, or be removed from office?

“Pending a thorough investigation, I think that’s not off the table by any means,” Mowery said.

The city government and Hogsett’s administration have come under increased scrutiny and pressure after several former staffers accused former Hogsett’s former aide Thomas Carl Cook of sexual abuse.

Lauren Roberts is one of the former staffers who came forward with allegations against Cook. She had this say about the new allegations against Pleasant in a statement:

“There is a culture of abuse for workers across political parties and levels of government in Indiana. The people with the most power, like Mayor Hogsett, have allowed abusers to get away with bad behavior and even rewarded them with influential jobs and glowing recommendations to future employers. Meanwhile, survivors are left behind over and over again.

“I’m angry and heartbroken — but not surprised — that Mayor Hogsett and other powerful people listen to survivors only after intense media scrutiny. Apparently, we have to resort to sharing our trauma and pain for public consumption before leaders will take action.

“I want to be clear that there are many people in power in addition to Mayor Hogsett — including Indiana Democratic Party officials, current Indianapolis councilmembers, and others — who knew about my case years before the IndyStar published its first investigation last July. Some knew as early as May 2017. Most chose to ignore and dismiss me.

“These powerful individuals had a responsibility to protect workers and hold abusers accountable. Instead, they not only failed to remove abusers like Thomas Cook from positions of power, but they also failed to prevent years of harm, violence, and trauma for survivors. We all deserve better.”

In a statement, Hogsett outlined everything his administration is doing to improve the workplace environment for city employees:

“We are in the process of creating a safer, better workplace culture where our employees know how to identify and report issues of misconduct and feel safe that their identities and information will remain confidential in doing so. That’s why my Administration has worked diligently to implement the near-term steps I first outlined in my budget address to the City-County Council, including:

“• Human Resources sent out this year’s mandatory sexual harassment training on 8/15, which I completed the next morning, and on 8/19 I signed an executive order to make this training mandatory on an annual basis for all City employees, not just supervisors.

“• On 8/16, the City began an internal education campaign to ensure all employees know how to access the free counseling and support available through our Employee Assistance Program.

“• A national law firm without local ties is being hired to review and make recommendations on our Employee Handbook.

“• An internal, anonymous system for reporting harassment of any kind was made available to all City-County employees while the procurement process for an external, third-party vendor to manage anonymous reporting continues. Demos on available systems began over recent weeks.

“These are important steps in this Administration’s ongoing work.

“It is of critical importance to me that every person who serves our community in the City-County enterprise understands they can report inappropriate behavior of any kind without fear of retribution, and that all investigations will be conducted in a confidential manner.”