Five months after an outside law firm recommended changes to how the city manages sexual misconduct allegations, it’s still unclear when — or if — the Indianapolis City-County Council will implement any of those reforms.
Councilors met Oct. 28 to begin publicly evaluating new policies that aim to encourage city employees to report workplace harassment and ensure that investigations of those claims are free from internal politics. But the recommendations suggested by Chicago-based Fisher Phillips, the law firm the council hired for $450,000 last year, now face questions over their cost to implement and their feasibility.
The council hired Fisher Phillips to examine the city’s existing protocols and suggest changes after IndyStar and Mirror Indy reported in 2024 that multiple women accused Thomas Cook, the former top aide to Mayor Joe Hogsett, of abusing his power and sexually harassing or assaulting them. Cook apologized at the time for what he called “consensual relationships that violated a trust placed in me.”
Released in late May, Fisher Phillips’ final report included two main recommendations: The city should establish an independent Office of Inspector General to investigate serious allegations of misconduct, especially those involving elected or appointed officials; and the human resources division should be removed from the Hogsett administration and converted to an independent “Human Resources Board,” with members ranging from political appointees to experienced HR professionals.
But to make those changes, councilors must balance a need to maintain victims’ privacy with the imperative for outside entities to oversee harassment claims.
Brandon Beeler, a city attorney with the Office of Corporation Counsel, told councilors that forming independent agencies could pose issues for victim privacy because of Indiana’s public records laws.
“Part of where everyone’s interests align are that witnesses, survivors (and) complainants have the right not to be identified should they not want to be identified,” Beeler said. “And to turn something into another board would make investigatory material public record.”
But multiple councilors said that independent oversight of city officials will be crucial to restore trust in harassment reporting systems. Many employees may not want to confide in the HR department, several councilors argued, so long as it’s housed within the same administration where Cook’s alleged misconduct took place.
The Fisher Phillips report found that the Hogsett administration acted within the law during three investigations conducted in 2017, 2020 and 2023 as the result of Cook’s alleged behavior. But councilors said that doesn’t mean all employees trust the administration.
“Things were handled legally, not necessarily ethically,” Republican Minority Leader Brian Mowery said, “and I think that’s going to create a lot of hesitation in people’s mind to really want to come forward and say something because they’ve seen what’s happened so far.”
A leader of the National Women’s Defense League, a nationwide organization that strives to prevent sexual harassment and advocate for policy reform, spoke in support of the two main recommendations.
NWDL Co-founder Emma Davidson Tribbs said victim privacy can and must be reconciled with an independent investigative process. Best practice is for an outside investigator to publicly report on their findings while maintaining participants’ confidentiality, Tribbs said.
“Survivors must know they will be believed and protected,” Tribbs said, “while the public must see that the system works through regular anonymous reporting and audits.”
Councilor Dan Boots, who leads a working group of six councilors evaluating the recommendations, said he won’t put a timeline on how quickly the city’s policies could change. The council was primarily focused on approving the 2026 budget over the past few months.
It’s unclear when the Rules and Public Policy Committee will meet again to discuss the proposed changes. The council hired Fisher Phillips in September 2024 to conduct its roughly nine-month investigation.
“We do not have a timeframe on this necessarily because this is not something we think we can rush …,” Boots said. “We really do want full employee engagement. This is something we do not want to just, on an ad-hoc basis, try to throw a Band-Aid on. It’s something that we hope is long-term.”
Email Indianapolis City Hall Reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on X: @jordantsmith09
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy councilors debate balance between victim privacy, public trust in harassment reforms
Reporting by Jordan Smith, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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