INDIANAPOLIS – Two women have shared two separate stories of sexual misconduct. They say one person was responsible, Thomas Cook Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former chief of staff. The women say he wasn’t held accountable for his actions, despite the city saying they took the allegations seriously.
At Monday nights city county council meeting, both the women were in attendance. They spoke with WRTV’s Meredith Hackler ahead of time detailing their experiences and sharing what changes they’d like to see the city make.
"It took me a couple of years to process it and to move from being angry at myself to being angry at him and the system that enabled him,” Lauren Roberts a former Hogsett campaign staffer and Cook accuser said.
Roberts first reported the issues she had with Thomas Cook in 2017. Those reports are something Ellert says she heard about; and was told they weren’t true.
“When Lauren was first sounding the alarm in and around 2017 I was definitely aware that she was saying these things but at the time I didn’t quite process that and also I was being told to sort of discredit her by people that I worked with,” Caroline Ellert a former city employee and Cook accuser said.
Not long after Roberts brought her concerns forward, Ellert started getting texts and inappropriate communications from Mr. Cook. She says it took her a while to process what was happening.
WATCH | Former Hogsett campaign staffer alleges sexual misconduct from mayors former chief of staff
"Ultimately, if you say no, it means no,” Ellert said. “I said no multiple times."
Ellert shared an experience of Cook showing up at her apartment saying he just wanted to talk. She said he kept trying to get physical. She said no but he continued.
“He actually said to me ‘your making me feel like I am raping you or something’ and I said 'well I said no' and he kept going,” Ellert detailed. “That really set him off. I would kind of have to calm him down in those moments so it kind of becomes about survival, because he would have such an intense emotional response if I would kind of stand up to him. So, I would kind of end up walking that back just to get him to calm down. That happened more than once.”
Women feel the system that's in place to report sexual misconduct is failing. They sent the letter below to city county council president Vop Osili and Mayor Joe Hogsett. They are asking for systematic changes. Hogsett addressed their concerns at Monday night’s city county council meeting, where Robert’s and Ellert sat second row. He started by apologizing and acknowledging their bravery.
You can read Caroline and Lauren's Letter below:
"Know that your decision to speak out for changes to better protect women and men of this city has not been in vain,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said.
The mayor then went on to say he plans on addressing the concerns they brought up in the letter starting with the creation of an anonymous reporting process.
"In a matter of days, the city will roll out an anonymous online reporting form,” Hogsett said. “A temporary measure that will ensure an anonymous venue is available to all employees as soon as possible."
These women hope the changes will stop any sort of abuse from happening in the future but in the meantime they have a message.
"We are not going away,” Roberts said. “We aren't ashamed and that we aren't afraid of anyone anymore. "
“Wear going to continue fighting,” Ellert said.
After mayor Hogsett spoke the city county council introduced a resolution to create a committee to investigate the allegations against Thomas Cook and how they were handled by the mayor's office. Another resolution will review the city's current processes and procedures regarding sexual harassment. They've been assigned to committees for more discussion. You can find those proposal below.
Resolution to investigate:
Proposal to review procedures:
Councilors Ali Brown and Jessica McCormick also sent the following Joint statement in response to the resolutions.
“In adopting General Resolution 287 tonight, the City-County Council took the first step toward implementing a comprehensive process to significantly strengthen protections for all employees from sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, enhance safety for those who report instances of harassment or discrimination, and ensure accountability when such offenses occur. Moving forward, the Council’s Rules and Public Policy committee is authorized to investigate the need for systemic, structural changes to the management of the city’s human resources and the policies and processes that govern employee complaints of harassment and discrimination.
Unlike Resolution 287, the proposal put forward this evening by our Republican colleagues to form an investigative committee was, we believe, too narrowly focused on the actions of a few individuals and too limited in its scope to result in meaningful or lasting protections for city employees. Given these limitations, we could not, in good conscience, vote in favor of our colleague’s proposal.”
