Metro Public Courthouse
Two members of the Metro Employee Benefit Board have been accused of ethics violations in their decisions to deny gender-affirming 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, July 27, 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,” says 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.”
Metro’s Board of Ethical Conduct, as well as Metro’s Legal Department, has until Aug. 10 to review the complaint and determine whether to proceed with a formal hearing.
At a June 6 meeting, the Metro Employee Benefit Board voted 5-4 against adding coverage for gender-affirming health care to employee insurance plans. At the meeting, then-chair Edna Jones opposed trans-inclusive coverage on religious grounds.
“My God does not make mistakes,” Jones said at the meeting. “He creates each of us as he chooses.”
Board member Harold Finch joined Jones in opposing expanded coverage for trans employees.
“This request was hinged upon recruitment," said Finch. "And I don’t believe it was proven. I still question what is the skill set of this subgroup that Nashville is lacking that we don’t find in the other 99 [percent].”
Metro has struggled to hire and retain employees in recent years — advocates argue that expanding health care could help remedy short-staffing.
Abolfazli’s complaint alleges that Jones and Finch violated Metro standards of conduct.
In the fall, Nashville became the focus of a nationwide attack on trans health care, specifically in regard to gender-affirming care for minors. The health care provisions voted down by Finch and Jones would have applied to individuals over 18 and covered procedures deemed medically necessary.
Finch, director of workplace safety and training at MNPS, and Jones, a 35-year veteran of Metro, both declined the Scene’s request for comment.
In a June interview with the Scene, Metro Council at-large candidate Olivia Hill, who is transgender, weighed in on the benefit board's decision to deny gender-affirming care. "It really is just education," said Hill. "Most people see trans women as just men in wigs. ... I think we have to educate people, and as time goes on we can educate folks, and people will be a little more open-minded."
Read Abolfazli’s complaint in full below.
