Metro board members face ethics complaint for alleged discrimination

Two members of the Metro Employee Benefit Board have been accused of ethics violations in their decisions to deny gender-based health care to Metro employees. Maryam Abolfazli, chair of the Metro Human Relations Commission, filed the ethics complaint with the Metro Clerk’s Office on Thursday after a short press conference.

“One of the Benefit Board members explicitly states that ‘her God’ is the reason she will not make decisions based on facts and research,” said Abolfazli in a press release. Abolfazli filed the complaint as an individual rather than in her capacity as chair of the MHRC. “Another Board member asserted that transgender employees are a ‘subgroup’ who do not have skills or talents that can’t be found from others in the workforce. It’s a problem when board members who make decisions that directly impact the health and wellbeing of Metro employees can make such blatantly discriminatory, hateful, and ignorant statements without fanfare or consequence.”