City: Former Hogsett aide made inappropriate romantic advances with co-workers

INDIANAPOLIS — A former aide for Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett reportedly made inappropriate romantic advances with multiple co-workers, according to officials with the city of Indianapolis.

Thomas Cook, a former aide who was last linked with Hogsett’s re-election campaign in October, had three separate sanctions from the city of Indianapolis in relation to allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct. Cook’s conduct was first reported by the Indy Star on Friday .

Officials with the city of Indianapolis said three employment-related sanctions, beginning in October 2017 and ending in October 2023, were conducted and recommended by an outside law firm.

In October 2017, Cook, while he was working as an employee with the city of Indianapolis, was reprimanded and prohibited from having romantic relationships with any co-worker. This was subject to “immediate discipline, up to and including termination.”

The city said that this initial sanction occurred after Cook’s inappropriate romantic advances to a co-worker in 2014 when they were both employed on Hogsett’s mayoral campaign. This was communicated to the Hogsett administration in May 2017.

In December 2020, Hogsett accepted Cook’s resignation as an employee for the city of Indianapolis after he violated the 2017 reprimand after he had a romantic relationship with a subordinate co-worker. First reported in October 2020, both parties said at the time that it was consensual. Since his resignation, Cook has not been employed by the city of Indianapolis.

In October 2023, the city of Indianapolis said that Cook did not have any association with Hogsett’s re-election campaign or related political efforts. The city said in the statement that all professional services contracts between Cook and the city were “discontinued based upon new allegations of inappropriate romantic conduct with a subordinate co-worker.”

The statement read that the new allegations, first reported in September 2023, had not been previously disclosed by Cook or known by the Hogsett administration.

In a statement provided to the Indy Star on Friday, Cook said that he did not use his professional position to further consensual relationships that he had.

“That being said, I understand these situations have raised legitimate concerns and I apologize to all those involved,” the statement read.

In a statement on social media from Hogsett, he said that he is grateful for the woman who brought forward this information. Hogsett stressed that each complaint, at the time they were reported, was “taken seriously, investigated and resulted in sanctions.”

“This administration has made continued efforts to improve the sexual harassment training and protocols available to support city employees,” Hogsett said. “Sexual harassment training was made a mandatory requirement for supervisors, and that requirement was cemented in city code in 2019. Sexual harassment reporting protocols were updated as recently as 2023. This administration remains committed to protecting the safety and wellbeing of every employee, and we will always seek ways to improve our policies and best practices.”

Vop Osili, the president of the Indianapolis City-County Council and the District 12 councilor, said in a statement on social media that he is “deeply disturbed and angry to learn of the predatory and abusive behavior” that was alleged.

“The trust the public places in us as leaders is a sacred one, as is the trust of our fellow leaders, colleagues, and employees,” Osili said. “Our community rightly expects elected officials and their employees to meet the highest expectations. The conduct alleged against Mr. Cook has no place in civil society, and certainly not in our civic institutions.”

In a statement from Brian Mowery, the minority leader for the Indianapolis City-County Council, and the councilor for District 25, he said:

“These allegations are certainly disturbing, and we need to get to the bottom of them. All employees deserve to feel safe at work and should certainly not have to worry about predatory behavior from a superior. It is beyond disappointing that the Hogsett administration has known about these allegations for years and failed to act in a serious manner. Employees of this city and tax payers deserve better.”

Officials with the city of Indianapolis said that officials are limited to identifying only the specific sanctions surrounding circumstances underlying certain employment-related matters.

“The City takes any and all allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct extremely seriously,” officials with the city of Indianapolis said in a statement. “We are grateful for the integrity and fortitude of those bringing these matters to our attention.”

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