The director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, Agustin Arbulu, has been fired.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission voted to fire Arbulu during a meeting Tuesday night.
Arbulu has been under scrutiny since early August, when the commission announced that it had formally reprimanded him. An employee of the Department of Civil Rights, Todd Heywood, had reported that Arbulu made sexually charged comments about a woman outside a work event.
After Heywood made the report, the commission asked the attorney general’s office for its opinion on whether the comments created a hostile work environment.
In a memoreleased by the commission earlier on Tuesday, the AG’s office said the allegations “do not amount to severe or pervasive sexually harassing conduct.” But the memo said that didn’t mean the allegations did not violate the department's standards:
"It should be noted that while it is our opinion that Mr. Heywood's claims may not be actionable under the applicable civil rights statutes, we have not offered an opinion with regard to whether or not the conduct alleged may violate the standards of conduct that MDCR sets for its Director. That is a question that must be answered by the Commission."
Earlier this month, Governor Gretchen Whitmer called on Arbulu to resign or for the commission to fire him.
Commission chair Alma Wheeler Smith said in a statement on Tuesday that it’s now time for the department to “turn forward to the important work it was created to do.”
The vote was 5 to 2 in favor of Arbulu’s removal.
Copyright 2019 Michigan Radio