Sexual Harassment Reporting Tool Chosen by Indy City...

Source: Ryan Hedrick/WIBC / Ryan Hedrick/WIBC

INDIANAPOLIS — The city of Indianapolis has selected its method of reporting claims of sexual harassment.

Speakfully is a software platform developed by HR Acuity, a New Jersey-based human resources software firm. The platform offers city employees the opportunity to submit anonymous reports of sexual harassment within city government.

The reports can be tracked in real time and Speakfully also supports up to 35 languages.

A hotline is also staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This is the latest move by the officer of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett to address harassment concerns after investigative reports by the Indianapolis Star and Mirror Indy revealed years of sexual harassment accusations against former deputy mayor Thomas Cook.

Mayor Hogsett also caught some of the heat as he was accused of not taking proper action regarding Cook’s actions.

“Over the past several months, my Administration has taken a hard look at improving the City’s policies, processes, training, and workplace culture,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett in a Thursday press release, “we remain focused on taking the necessary steps to ensure a safe and equitable working environment for all employees, such as the procurement of this third-party, anonymous reporting service, and appreciate the City-County Council’s partnership in this effort.”

This is a timeline of steps to prevent sexual harassment within city government, as organized by Hogsett’s office:

• Sexual harassment training was made a mandatory requirement for supervisors and cemented into City code in 2019
• An internal working group to address employee culture concerns was created, which has now met several times beginning August 2, 2024
• Demonstrations of third-party vendor solutions for this anonymous reporting system began on August 14, 2024
• Mandatory sexual harassment training was sent to supervisors on August 15, 2024, to be completed by October 30, 2024
• Mayor Hogsett signed Executive Order No. 1, 2024 on August 19, which extended mandatory sexual harassment training from all supervisors to all employees on an annual basis. All employees must complete this training by the end of the year
• A temporary, internal anonymous form for the reporting of workplace harassment of any kind was made available to employees on August 26, 2024
• Speakfully was selected in consultation with the City-County Council on September 16, 2024