The city of Indianapolis has received 13 workplace-related complaints through an anonymous online reporting tool that launched last month.
The website was rolled out after Mirror Indy and IndyStar reported on harassment claims against Thomas Cook, former chief of staff to Mayor Joe Hogsett. The platform is operated by Speakfully, a product developed by New Jersey-based firm HR Acuity.
Two of those 13 complaints qualified as policy violations that resulted in investigations, according to a city spokesperson. Members of the Hogsett administration briefed members of the City-County Council on the product launch during a Jan. 29 meeting of the council’s investigative committee, which was formed to probe harassment allegations against current and former members of the Hogsett administration.
Councilor Brian Mowery, a southside Republican who serves on the committee, said it was “alarming” to learn that the portal already logged more than a dozen complaints.
City attorney Brandon Beeler said that most of those complaints didn’t qualify as policy violations.
In October, the committee picked Atlanta-based law firm Fisher Phillips to investigate harassment allegations against members of the Hogsett administration.
At the firm’s request, the city turned over public documents for review in January, Beeler said.
Beeler’s office has retained its own outside counsel, Faegre Drinker, to be responsive to Fisher Phillips and to assist the city in sifting through thousands of emails that would be relevant to the council’s investigation.
“A firm of Faegre’s size has technological things we just don’t have,” Beeler told the committee.
The committee is expected to release an interim report on the firm’s findings by March 1.
A clarification was made on Feb. 6, 2025: This article has been updated to reflect the correct number of workplace complaints that resulted in official investigations.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
