Indianapolis city employee fired in harassment investigation

INDIANAPOLIS — A manager working for the City of Indianapolis was let go Wednesday after an investigation found "overwhelming evidence" of sexual misconduct.

This move comes after multiple women came forward accusing the mayor's former chief of staff, Thomas Cook, of sexual harassment and claimed the city did little about it.

The city shared a document with WRTV outlining the termination of Matt Pleasant. He served as the city's Administrator of Division of Current Planning.

It says Pleasant was fired Wednesday after the city received allegations of sexual misconduct on July 22.

PREVIOUS | Former Hogsett chief of staff accused of sexual misconduct

Former Hogsett chief of staff accused of sexual misconduct

Now, some candidates who are on the ballot in November are asking for the mayor to resign as victims continue to speak out on social media.

On Friday, we heard more from one of the victims of Thomas Cook.

Lauren Roberts was a campaign staffer for Mayor Hogsett. She has a lot to say about this developing story and part of her statement focuses on the termination of Matt Pleasant and the ongoing allegations in the mayor's administration.

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"I'm angry and heartbroken, but not surprised that Mayor Hogsett and other powerful people listen to survivors only after intense media scrutiny," said Lauren Roberts, who came forward with allegations against Cook. "Apparently, we have to resort to sharing our trauma and pain for public consumption before leaders will take action."

Roberts says she's also frustrated by how long the problem has been allowed to continue.

"Some knew as early as May 2017, most chose to ignore and dismiss me," said Roberts. "These powerful individuals had a responsibility to protect workers and hold abusers accountable."

RELATED | Hogsett addresses sexual misconduct controversy at City County Council meeting

Hogsett addresses sexual misconduct controversy at City County Council meeting

On Thursday, Mayor Hogsett released a statement disclosing additional ongoing harassment investigations in Indianapolis.

The statement reads in part quote:

On July 31, I led a frank discussion with members of the Administration's Cabinet leadership about how to create a safer, better workplace where employees know how to identify and report cases of harassment. After that meeting, I was approached by an individual who had a complaint of misconduct against a former employee of the City who had resigned in 2023.

The mayor went on to say a complaint was filed with human resources immediately after he learned of the incident.

Hogsett reiterated his executive order to mandate sexual harassment training for all employees and creation of an internal and anonymous system to report harassment.

People from both parties are now asking for Mayor Hogsett to clean up his administration following the latest allegations.

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Republican minority caucus leader Brian Mowery sent out this statement:

If this is true, it is completely unacceptable, and the mayor must be held accountable. ... As we have said from day one, the republican caucus is committed to working in a bipartisan fashion to investigate what has occurred, and work to create a path forward to ensure our city-county government never turns into such a 'toxic culture' ever again.

Jennifer Mccormick, democratic nominee for governor, weighed in. She released an ethics plan this week calling for the creation of reporting mechanisms for sexual harassment at state and local levels.

She says they were inspired in part from the previously reported allegations against Hogsett's former top aid Thomas Cook.

Mayor Hogsett was scheduled to be at a ribbon cutting this morning but he did not show up and he declined our request for an interview.