Editorial: Hogsett should have done more sooner to protect city workers

More than six years after a woman says she told Joe Hogsett she was being sexually harassed by a key leader in his administration, the Indianapolis mayor mandated city employees receive training to try to prevent such activity in the future.

That decision came not because the city just now verified the incidents or because it recently concluded an investigation or because the mayor this month forced out the employee in question. No, Hogsett signed an executive order on Aug. 19 because The Indianapolis Star and later not-for-profit news organization Mirror Indy published stories this summer about the accusations.

That is unacceptable.

Actually, pretty much everything about the situation is unacceptable—from the alleged harassment, to the Hogsett administration’s reaction to it, to the length of time it took the mayor to acknowledge it and act.

Hogsett finally had to act because three women told their stories to IndyStar and Mirror Indy. They accused former Chief Deputy Mayor Thomas Cook of abusing his power in pursuing relationships with them when he worked for the city and for Hogsett’s campaigns for mayor.

Cook has issued a statement acknowledging consensual relationships but saying he did not “use my professional position to further those personal relationships.”

But the Hogsett administration has acknowledged that Cook’s behavior was investigated three times over six years and that each investigation brought a reprimand and discipline. The result was Cook’s resignation from city employment in 2020 and, later, his departure from Hogsett’s 2023 mayoral campaign, IndyStar reported.

“The city takes any and all allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct extremely seriously,” the Hogsett administration said in a statement sent to IBJ last month.

But it’s not clear that’s true. One of the women who accused Cook said she didn’t even know about an investigation the city now says it conducted at the time into her allegations, raising questions about how complete the investigation could possibly have been. (Editor’s note: After this editorial was published in the newspaper but before it was posted online, Hogsett told reporters that the woman mentioned above was contacted about the investigation. Hogsett also said that he didn’t know about all of the allegations against Cook he asked him to work on his 2023 reelection effort. You can read the story here.)

Hogsett gave Cook another chance after that initial investigation. Following a second incident, Cook apparently was permitted to resign from the city rather than be fired. And Cook remained in Hogsett’s orbit, working on his third campaign for mayor until yet another accusation surfaced, IndyStar reported.

Now that IndyStar and Mirror Indy have detailed the allegations—including quotes from texts he sent the women—Hogsett has signed an executive order requiring that all city employees complete a two-hour virtual training seminar by Dec. 31 (and annually after that). The executive order also reaffirms the city’s policy of “zero-tolerance policy for any form of sexual harassment.”

Previously, the city only required supervisors to undergo harassment training. Of course, the allegations against Cook show the training is of little use if the administration doesn’t enforce its zero-tolerance policy.

We are pleased to see that the City-County Council plans to investigate the Hogsett administration’s actions in these cases. Most important, Hogsett—who has more than three years left on his third term—must do better. He owes it to all the women—and men—who work for him and to all the people he serves.•

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