INDIANAPOLIS – The special committee investigating Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration is now hearing from an outside law firm for the very first time.
This comes after sexual assault allegations against one of Hogsett’s former top aides came to light back in July.
On Thursday night, the investigative committee held its third meeting. Back in October, the city announced that it would hire Chicago-based law firm Fisher Phillips to help with its investigation.
The seven-member special investigative committee heard more than an hour’s worth of information as Fisher Phillips attorneys began laying the groundwork for their involvement in this process.
“Really we learned a lot of in-depth information both about the law as well as the structure, the procedures and processes that complaints go through particularly in regards to sexual harassment in the city county,” said committee Chair Crista Carlino. “So that was incredibly informative for the members of our committee.”
Carlino said Thursday night’s presentation is just the start, essentially giving committee members a better understanding of sexual harassment law.
“They covered everything from the Equal Opportunity Commission, the federal level, all the way to the Indiana Rights Commission and our local OE Board,” she described.
Next, Carlino said the law firm will evaluate the city’s current human resource structure.
“Then phase 2 looks at past investigations, current procedures, and where there may be some things that did or did not go as per policy,” she said. “And then moving forward from there, any policy recommendations, changes to code, so on and so forth.”
The law firm will eventually compile a written report with recommendations. So far, Carlino said she and other committee members believe quite a bit of progress is already being made.
“I’m very pleased with the work that they’ve been doing and I think we selected the right law firm,” she said. “And I’m really looking forward to hearing about the results of their further findings.”
The committee is currently scheduled to have another meeting on Dec. 4 and Jan. 29. At that January meeting, the committee expects to have another presentation.
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