The city of Indianapolis is defending itself against a federal lawsuit from a former employee who alleges he was sexually harassed and later retaliated against while working for a city department.
De’Andre Baker, who worked for the city’s Department of Public Works from 2020 to 2024, alleged that he was sexually assaulted by his supervisor in the hallway of their workplace, a DPW garage, a few months after he started working for DPW.
The lawsuit comes as the city has been embroiled for over a year in questions of how it’s responded to sexual harassment and assault claims by former employees. IndyStar previously reported that Mayor Joe Hogsett’s former chief of staff allegedly harassed or assaulted three women who were his subordinates, prompting a City-County Council investigation.
Baker, whose name is spelled De’Aundre Baker in court documents, filed the case in June against the City of Indianapolis and local union AFSCME Local 725 in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.
The city responded to the complaint in legal filings on Aug. 26, denying many of the charges levied by Baker and asking the court to dismiss the case, saying some claims were either too old, or not addressed in the correct legal way.
Asked for comment about the lawsuit, the city declined to comment.
“Out of respect for the judicial process, the Office of Corporation Counsel does not comment on pending litigation,” according to a statement from Corporation Counsel Brandon Beeler.
More: Hogsett staffer fired amid Indianapolis’ reckoning on sexual harassment
Baker said in the lawsuit that his genitals were grabbed during the alleged assault and that he did not report the incident because he feared retaliation.
However, after the assault he said that the manager made his sexuality “a topic of gossip among supervisors” and he started hearing anti-gay slurs at work, according to the lawsuit. Baker is a gay man.
There was a “campaign to isolate (him),” he said, which increasingly escalated to being left alone after a work accident.
The lawsuit alleges DPW management was absent after Baker got into a traffic accident on the highway while driving a DPW truck back in 2022, and that “no one would come to assist him” despite being stranded and needing medical attention. The accident caused Baker to suffer a concussion and back injury, he alleges in the lawsuit.
“After the accident, management mocked and minimized (Baker’s) concerns about safety, attributing them to his sexuality,” according to the complaint.
For example, Baker alleges in the lawsuit that a DPW supervisor responded to Baker’s concerns about a vehicle issue by calling him a racial slurs and a “girl,” and by referring to him by a woman’s name.
The lawsuit also alleges Baker’s requests for disability accommodations were ignored or denied, eventually leading in changes to his job description, unnecessary inquiries into his disability, demotion and termination from the job in 2024.
“The sexual harassment of (Baker) was severe or pervasive enough to alter the terms and conditions of employment, thereby creating a hostile and abusive work environment,” the lawsuit states. “Throughout (Baker’s) employment, the city lacked an effective preventative policy to address the abuse that (Baker) experienced. Furthermore, management officials knew about the sexual harassment but failed to respond to the harassment or prevent it.”
The lawsuit also charges that the city failed to provide reasonable accommodations due to a disability that originated from his 2022 accident.
The city denied several of the claims made by Baker and earlier this week filed a “motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.”
In its arguments, the city said several of the allegations made by Baker took place more than 300 days before he filed a complaint under the EEOC back in May 2024.
Those complaints aren’t actionable, the city wrote in its legal filing, because plaintiffs in Indiana have 300 days from an alleged unlawful employment practice to file a timely charge” with the EEOC.
The majority of Baker’s allegations offered in support of his hostile work environment claim are time-barred, the city said. The city also argued that allegations that were not included or encompassed in Baker’s EEOC complaint should be disregarded.
“Because most of plaintiff’s allegations in support of his hostile work environment claim are time-barred or beyond the scope of his EEOC charge, his single alleged instance of discriminatory conduct is insufficient to support a claim for sexual harassment,” the city argued. “Therefore, because plaintiff’s complaint wholly lacks the sort of severe or pervasive incidents that would support a hostile work environment claim, such claim should be dismissed.”
The city also argued that Baker “failed to allege facts that would support a claim of interference under the ADA.”
The lawsuit alleges that the union was also “aware of the sexual harassment against (Baker) but failed to represent him in grieving the harassment.”
The union didn’t respond to IndyStar’s request for comment. In its legal filing to answer the complaint, the union said several times it was “without sufficient information or knowledge to admit the allegations.” It also alleged that Baker was terminated “due to his multiple rule infractions.”
IndyStar has filed a request for Baker’s personnel file, but was not yet given the documents as of press time.
Baker said he decided to file a lawsuit because he felt “entirely alone” because “neither the union nor the city were willing to stand up for me.”
“I’ve learned that if you don’t fight for yourself, no one else will,” Baker said in a statement. “I hope that the people of Indianapolis look closely at what’s happening to me and to (other) women.”
Contact senior government accountability reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@indystar.com or follow her on X @hayleighcolombo.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lawsuit against city of Indianapolis by ex-employee alleges sexual harassment