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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis City-County Council committee formed to investigate sexual harassment within Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration held their first meeting Tuesday evening.

The committee’s forming came after former Hogsett staffers Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert said the mayor’s former chief of staff Thomas Cook sexually harassed and abused them. Since then, Matt Pleasant, who served as the Administrator of the Division of Current Planning, was fired.

The meeting began with a presentation from the city’s human resources department detailing the city’s new sexual harassment reporting system. The new system, which claims to be anonymous, was rolled out in late August.

Since it became available to city employees, at least six investigations were started and four are currently ongoing, Director of Human Resources Twana Ellis said in the meeting.

The system is currently in place before a different system, run by a third party, is integrated and able to handle reports.

“That is my number one demand, to get it in place as quickly as possible,” the committee’s chair Councilor Crista Carlino, who represents District 6, said after the meeting.

Ellis said the process begins when a report is received from a current employee. That report can come from someone experiencing harassment directly, or from someone reporting for that individual.

Although the reporting is aimed at being anonymous, in Tuesday’s meeting, Ellis said anyone making a report has to use their city employee login to access the form. City leader’s said that the user profile is not recorded.

“What we have in place is just a temporary measure that does require you to log in,” Ellis said. “It does require for you to put your password in and access the form at that present time.”

After a report is made, necessary meetings take place and the HR department decides what evidence needs to be gathered for the investigation.

That evidence could include texts, voicemails, emails, photos, or social media posts.

Following the evidence gathering, interviews happen and HR decides if any policy has been violated and action is recommended.

During Tuesday’s meeting, the seven person committee asked what would happen if elected or appointed officials and employees are involved.

“I think there are multiple opportunities for resolution for justice,” Carlino said. “But, unfortunately, no, this specific committee, you know, won’t be removing any elected officials.”

Councilors also asked how the HR team moves forward if they receive a report of harassment that happened outside of the City-County Building or during a campaign.

Roberts says she was harassed during Hogsett’s 2014 campaign.

“If we did hear about it from someone in the community, we would investigate it,” Ellis said. “We’ve investigated other complaints that have come into our department.”

The members were then presented with three independent law firms, all based in Chicago, that could be hired to look into sexual harassment within the Hogsett administration. The law firms include Fisher Phillips, Morgan Lewis, and Seyfarth.

Each of the firms charge hundreds, if not a thousand, of dollars an hour.

“This is not something we would typically budget for at all, and, of course, the severity of the claims and the expertise that we want to contract with it is going to be pricey,” Carlino said.

The committee’s next meeting is set for Oct. 9, where members will decide what law firm they will move forward with.

Committee meets to investigate sexual harassment within Hogsett administration

Indianapolis city government’s sexual harassment investigative committee meets for first time

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