Attorney: Hogsett probe omitted 'uncomfortable' texts from mayor, contradicted women's claims

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

The highly anticipated investigatory report into Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett's handling of sexual harassment and assault allegations omits key details, say the women at the heart of the complaints, including late-night and personal texts from the mayor they told investigators made them feel uncomfortable.
The report by Chicago-based law firm Fisher Phillips also includes substantive discrepancies from the women's own records they handed over to investigators, which were later obtained by IndyStar.
An attorney for the two women said they have been revictimized by the investigative process that appears to take the mayor's statements as fact while diminishing the statements and evidence provided by the women as claims.
'Ms. Roberts and Ms. Ellert not only experienced significant difficulty attempting to report the abuse in the first place — indeed, Ms. Roberts has never been presented with a formal channel to do so — but this investigative process has caused them further unnecessary distress and harm,' said Mark Sniderman, a lawyer representing the women.
'Regardless, they participated voluntarily because of their core commitment to supporting other survivors and changing the systems that continue to harm them. All survivors and whistleblowers deserve better.'
The Indianapolis City-County Council ordered and paid for the probe independent of the mayor's office. The action followed allegations first reported by IndyStar in July 2024 from three women who say Thomas Cook, the mayor's former right-hand man and chief of staff, repeatedly harassed and mistreated them when they worked as Cook's subordinates. One of those women alleged Cook sexually assaulted her while he served as the mayor's chief of staff.
More: 'I kept saying no': Women accuse top Hogsett aide of preying on subordinates for years
The city paid $450,000 for the 54-page report, which revealed Hogsett allowed Cook to resign from the city in 2020 and stay on for about two months to work on economic development projects, despite a recommendation from the city's human resources director that Cook be fired for violating city policy by engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship with another subordinate employee. The report also concluded Hogsett's administration had followed all applicable law in its handling of the women's claims.
Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert, two of the women who allege Cook abused them, provided investigators with text messages, hours of interviews and other documentation. But they found the resulting report — which they saw for the first time after it was presented to the public on May 29 — appeared to contradict some of that evidence, according to a statement their lawyer provided to IndyStar:
Fisher Phillips investigators declined to comment on several questions posed to them by IndyStar.
The report has already caused significant political fallout: Democratic City-County Council member Andy Nielsen, who served on the investigative committee, earlier this week became the second council member to call for Hogsett to resign over what he said was a leadership failure by the mayor. Democratic socialist Jesse Brown called for Hogsett's resignation after the 2024 reporting.
Cook in the past apologized for his conduct, though he didn't participate in the Fisher Phillips investigation. He has not been charged with a crime.
Hogsett, meanwhile, has defended his handling of his past investigations into Cook. The mayor has called on the council to study how to implement various reforms recommended in the investigative report, including dissolving the city's HR department in favor of an independent structure and appointing an inspector general.
More: A 'fraternity' culture and an 'opportunity' for self-dealing: 6 insights from Hogsett investigation
Hogsett, in a statement, did not answer IndyStar's specific questions about the discrepancies alleged by Roberts and Ellert, nor did he dispute the substance of the text exchanges. Instead, he reiterated the report's findings that his actions in response to the complaints complied with the law.
"My cooperation was not only unprecedented but incredibly important to me," he said, referring to the Fisher Phillips investigation. "I have a commitment to the people of this City and the employees of this enterprise to do all we can to make sure our employees feel safe in their working environment. There have been many lessons learned and I believe working together we can continue to move our City forward. I am focused on the future and the next 2 ½ years of this term."
He also referred questions about the report to Fisher Phillips.
The most glaring omission in the report, according to the women's lawyer, is not referring to the contents of the text message exchanges with the mayor that Roberts and Ellert provided to investigators.
'Ms. Roberts and Ms. Ellert voluntarily provided these messages to investigators and underscored their concerns about the mayor's behavior as both their boss and as a person in a position of authority,' Sniderman said.
In at least one instance, those messages contradict an assertion by Hogsett in the report, in which the mayor 'stated (Roberts) never mentioned personal life concerns and that he did not know anything personally about her.'
A 2015 text message exchange between Roberts and Hogsett provided to investigators and obtained by IndyStar shows the mayor knew her then-partner's name and referred to Roberts as 'feisty.'
After Roberts messaged Hogsett about campaign logistics for the following morning, Hogsett told her 'Happy Valentines Day.'
'Tell (redacted) that he has to get my approval since I'm older than your Dad,' wrote Hogsett, who was 58 at the time. Roberts was 26.
Roberts said 'thanks but no thanks,' asserting she didn't need his approval.
Hogsett responded again: 'Does he appreciate how feisty you are?'
About 20 minutes passed as she weighed how to respond.
'I would imagine so,' she replied.
'Easy now,' he said.
She did not respond further.
Roberts gave the exchange to investigators and told them it left her feeling 'uneasy' at the time. She resigned from the Hogsett campaign a few months later.
Text messages provided to investigators by Ellert reveal the mayor reaching out unprompted late at night. She told investigators the messages made her feel "uncomfortable" and described them as "erratic." She also described being uncomfortable at the time to at least one member of the administration, according to text messages from the same evening obtained by IndyStar.
At 10:15 p.m. on June 12, 2020, Hogsett texted Ellert about a years-old photo of the two of them. At the time, Ellert was 26 and was the executive director of the Marion County Democratic Party, a position that often put her at the behest of the mayor, then 63.
'Can I tell you that the picture of you and me in front of the seal (which I know you did not want to take nor did you like taking) is my absolute favorite,' Hogsett wrote. 'It appears so real, as uncomfortable as it may have made you.'
He continued in a second message: 'It's almost as if we are both proud that the picture memorializes us in that particular moment, however long ago and that we are happy and proud of each other. I know you weren't but you faked it well.'
Ellert didn't respond.
Two days earlier, Hogsett had asked her extensively via text about her preferred poetry in another after-hours exchange that appeared to span a few hours.
After initially texting Ellert about work-related logistics, he followed up about poetry: 'So, last question. Which poem do you find more meaningful and/or compelling: 'The Wasteland' or 'The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock'?'
The topic was familiar — yet unnerving — to Ellert: Cook also had showered her with poetry, including one time placing a poetry book on her desk even after she asked him to maintain appropriate boundaries at work.
Hogsett proceeded to ask for her favorite poetry, saying he would read it that night.
The mayor then sent repeated messages asking, in various ways, for Ellert's advice on an unspecified issue. In one, he said, 'I care what you think?'
'This entire thing is completely frackup. Advise me how to deliver,' he said in another text.
The next: 'I am asking.'
The next: 'I need your advice. Thanks'
At that point, Ellert asks what he's talking about. Hogsett responded, 'Like what I am going through now?'
'It is only 9am,' he wrote, then correcting the time to "9pm" in a follow-up message. 'So tell me what I should do.'
She asked again what he needs advice on. Hogsett replied, 'about all things.' In several follow up messages, the mayor implored Ellert to respond, saying, "Talk to me," "Please," and 'Hello: it's only 9:36pm'
The final investigatory report by Fisher Phillips makes no mentions of the messages — or the concerns the young women had shared about those communications with investigators — even though it contains a section on workplace culture in the Hogsett administration and notes Cook "and others" acted unprofessionally around women and other employees.
Ellert and Roberts' lawyer said the report "fails to account for all of the evidence that my clients provided and misses the full scope and import of the relevant issues."
About three years later, having secured a job away from the Hogsett administration and outside Cook's 'perceived sphere of influence,' as the report notes, Ellert made the decision to report her sexual harassment and assault allegations against Cook to Hogsett.
She relayed her testimony in a September 2023 phone call with Hogsett and the city-county's corporation counsel. The final report asserts as fact, twice, that Ellert did not use the term 'sexual assault' during that call.
"While (Ellert) did not use terms 'sexual assault' or 'rape,' Mayor Hogsett understood what (Ellert) had described (i.e., non-consensual sex), though she did not use the specific term sexual assault," the report reads.
However, she and her lawyer assert she did use that term in the phone call, and they told this to Fisher Phillips investigators. They confirmed this characterization in follow-up correspondence with investigators obtained by IndyStar.
'The report consistently construes the mayor's statements as facts and my clients' statements as mere claims,' Sniderman said. "The mayor claimed that she did not use the term 'sexual assault' during her initial conversation with him in 2023 concerning Mr. Cook's conduct. However, Ms. Ellert clearly told investigators otherwise."
Another point of contention was who was really responsible for Roberts as an employee when she worked for the Hogsett campaign more than a decade ago.
The Fisher Phillips report asserts Roberts was actually an employee of the Indiana Democratic Party while working for the Hogsett campaign. That contradicts a memorandum of understanding Hogsett signed in 2014 which Roberts provided to investigators, as well as an email from a party attorney.
The MOU Hogsett signed when Roberts took a job with his campaign clearly states Roberts is "employed by the Committee," referring to the campaign, and that the state party "is not my employer." It was an agreement spelling out the party's role as a payroll processor.
The email, from attorney Karen Celestino-Horseman to Roberts in 2019, states Roberts was 'not employed by the state party' but the party merely handled payroll, as it does for other campaign staff.
Roberts has previously asserted that neither the party nor the campaign wanted to take responsibility for handling her harassment case.
More: 'No one wanted the ball': Women who experienced harassment say Democrats' response lacked
She said she fears complaints made by campaign workers will continue to fall through the cracks if that doesn't change.
The women's attorney, Sniderman, said Ellert and Roberts are speaking out in order to advocate for themselves and others who have been "targeted by workplace abuse."
"Their goal remains the same," he said. "To help end these cycles of abuse."
Contact senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at [e-mail].
Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [e-mail] or follow her on X@kayla_dwyer17.