Mayor Joe Hogsett signed an executive order Monday mandating all city-county employees complete annual harassment training or face termination.
This comes after two former staffers, Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert, alleged Hogsett’s former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, sexually harassed them.
At an explosive city-council meeting Aug. 12, Hogsett addressed Roberts and Ellert directly:
“No one could possibly understand the pain that you have been enduring, but know that your decision to speak out for changes to better protect the women and men of this city has not been in vain.”
As he spoke, Roberts held a sign that read “2017 investigation? Prove it,” a narrative that Hogsett maintains is true and that Cook was indeed reprimanded in 2017 before he resigned in 2020. No records have been released regarding the investigation.
Following his message to the former staffers at the budget proposal, Hogsett announced a shift in the sexual harassment courses required for city-council employees, more sweeping policy changes and a national firm to review the city handbook.
The executive order outlines the following:
- Each city-county employee must attend harassment training “to promote a workplace and culture free from harassment.”
- The harassment training must be attended annually.
- The office of corporation counsel will document employees who cooperate. Those who do not may face losing their job.
- The training requirement goes into effect immediately and all employees must complete training by Dec. 31, 2024.
- There is a zero-tolerance policy for harassment.
Previously, city ordinances mandated that employees attend the training every two years.
Contact Health & Environmental Reporter Hanna Rauworth at 317-762-7854 or follow her on Instagram at @hanna.rauworth.
