1,000 signatures reached
To: Mayor Joe Hogsett and City County Council President Vop Osili
Staff of the Hogsett Administration Demand Reform of Workplace Culture
We are staff of the Hogsett Administration. We believe that the City's workplace culture is, at times, unhealthy, unsafe, and inappropriate. It is this culture that enabled the sexual harassment committed by former Chief of Staff Thomas Cook.
On July 19, 2024, the City’s leadership issued a public statement in response to an IndyStar article. Its response included the sentence, “The City takes any and all allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct extremely seriously.” However, in the days since the news revealed the failure of the administration to protect its staff, leadership in this administration has continued its failure by offering no accountability, no actionable change, and little to no communication.
The City must address and reform the current issues within workplace culture so as to ensure a safe and healthy work environment. We demand that the City acknowledge the following issues and take the necessary steps to repair them.
- The formally defined review process provided in the Employee Handbook is both inadequate and not enforced. - The City must implement a “360” annual review process where staff have the opportunity to provide feedback to their direct supervisors and receive feedback on their own performance. All reviews should then be further reviewed by Human Resources to ensure any inappropriate behavior is addressed.
- The sexual harassment training currently implemented by the City is wholly inadequate. - All staff, not just those who supervise others, must be made aware of what constitutes inappropriate behavior. Training should be strengthened to explain topics such as power dynamics, grooming, racism, microaggressions, and other types of inappropriate behavior or manipulation, and it should be facilitated by professionals. All staff are required to reside in Marion County, so it is possible and imperative that training be administered in-person.
- There is currently no adequate space, safe or otherwise, for staff to report inappropriate behavior. - The City must offer a third-party solution for staff, contract employees, and volunteers to report any inappropriate behavior experienced in the workplace. All members of the City should be able to file these reports anonymously, and the City must act upon any report immediately.
- The Human Resources Department currently falls under the Office of Finance Management. - Human Resources should not be a function of Finance Management, but rather a function of People and Culture. A new team at the executive level should be created to ensure staff are heard, represented, and adequately communicated with. This team should consist of a Deputy Mayor for People and Culture and a Communications Manager. This team’s responsibilities would include focusing on creating policies that make our work environment a place for all people to succeed and thrive. Examples of such change include more expansive parental leave, leadership training, and mentorship programs.
- Often, current leadership behaves in such a way that shows staff that leadership believes yelling, intimidation, demeaning others, and sexual harassment are acceptable practices within the workplace. - Leadership must significantly and intentionally reform the workplace culture from the top down. This reformation includes but is not limited to:
- Expanding the topic of “inappropriate workplace conduct” in the Employee Handbook to include providing guidance for what employees should do when subjected to shouting, yelling, demeaning, insulting, aggressive communication, and/or verbal abuse from leadership or colleagues, behaviors that can make staff feel scared, threatened, humiliated, or unsafe.
- Ongoing and required training for management to learn how to professionally communicate so as to create a healthy workplace.
- Anonymous reporting mechanisms for employees.
- Clear repercussions for employees who exhibit inappropriate workplace behavior repeatedly.
Why is this important?
We, the staff of the Hogsett Administration, are coming forward with these demands because of the inaction from leadership in recent weeks. We are seeking accountability and transparency in regards to how leadership intends to reform the culture that has enabled abuse, sexual and otherwise. Many City-County job responsibilities are inherently stressful; it is our goal that all staff are safe from sexual harassment and all forms of inappropriate workplace behavior, so staff can focus their time and energy on helping Marion County residents. We are hopeful that the actions identified here can put an end to the harmful practices that so many of us have experienced firsthand.
