INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The road map for the independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration is now clear.

Fisher Phillips, the law firm leading the investigation, said it had not officially begun reviewing the details of the complaints, but on Thursday detailed the laws under which they would filter the complaints to see if Hogsett or his employees could be arrested. responsible.

Two lawyers at the firm spent the better part of an hour presenting to the City County Council Inquiry Committee what they called phase one of their investigation.

They even explained to the committee what sexual harassment was. There are two types: Confrontational and hostile work environment; Environments in which a reasonable person would consider the workplace to be intimidating, hostile or abusive.

The investigation committee consists of Lauren Roberts and Caroline Ellert coming forward with sexual harassment allegations against Thomas Cook.

“I think once this happens to you, there’s really no way to win. “There are so many different ways to lose,” Ellert said in an interview with WISH-TV Reporter Kyla Russell.

Cook is Mayor Hogsett’s former top aide and was allowed to resign from Hogsett’s administration in 2020, but was hired as an advisor for Hogsett’s mayoral campaign in 2023.

Hogsett said of Cook in September: “When people complained about Thomas Cook’s behaviour, I did what I had to do.”

A few days before that, Roberts talked to Russell about the accountability he wanted to see.

“I wonder what kind of responsibility other people in power, other than the mayor, would have for others who were aware of my situation and maybe others, I don’t know, but they didn’t take the action they should have taken at the time.” said Roberts.

We learned what that accountability might look like during Thursday’s investigative committee.

The law firm told the committee that higher standards apply to managers if an employee comes forward with sexual harassment allegations. They said managers could be held accountable for their actions if they were deemed to have failed to comply with the law.

We are now moving on to the second phase of the investigation.

The law firm will analyze all allegations of sexual harassment against employees in the mayor’s administration to ensure that the response to those allegations complies with state and federal law.

The next investigation committee meeting will be held on December 4 if the law firm conducting the investigation makes enough progress to warrant another meeting.

Otherwise, the next meeting will be held in January.