INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two experienced political consultants on Friday said Mayor Joe Hogsett failed his obligation to protect employees when they complained of sexual harassment by his former chief of staff.

Hogsett has said little publicly since news broke at least three former employees of the mayor’s office had complained to him as early as 2017 about sexual harassment by Thomas Cook, who was Hogsett’s chief of staff until the end of 2020, and later served on Hogsett’s 2023 reelection campaign. News 8’s newsgathering partner, Mirror Indy, found one of the employees, Lauren Roberts, began emailing Hogsett about Cook’s behavior as early as May of 2017, around the same time Caroline Ellert said Cook began grooming her as well. Both women said Cook harassed and manipulated them over a period of years.

Roberts and Ellert have both spoke publicly about their experiences. A third woman has made similar claims against Cook, but has asked not to be identified.

Dana Black, a former Indiana Democratic Party official and a contributor to All INdiana Politics, said Hogsett should have dealt more decisively with Cook. Cook was disciplined in 2017, but kept his job. After a second disciplinary action in 2020, he was allowed to resign rather than be fired. He then went to a local law firm with extensive ties to city contracts before working on Hogsett’s campaign. Black said political entities need a clear and comprehensive system for dealing with sexual harassment, along with clear expectations as to how such cases should be handled.

“If somebody is sexually harassing you or sexually assaulting you, there should be a chain of events, there should be a procedures in place, to make sure that no other female, or no other person, for that matter, is put in harm’s way,” Black said. “And they should be very visible for everyone to see.”

Black said based on her previous experience working in human resources, she suspects fears of legal red tape might have led to a lack of further action after Roberts made her initial complaints.

Republican consultant Whitley Yates said she believes Hogsett should resign. She said audio Mirror Indy obtained of Roberts’ confrontation with Hogsett over Cook, in particular, suggests Hogsett did not take the allegations seriously, and was more interested in protecting Cook.

“I think the problem is the procedural elements that were not done as well as some of those in positions of power that seemed to be more protective over the position of mayor as opposed to the people working for him,” Yates said.

All INdiana Politics airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.