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Civil Rights director reprimanded for inappropriate comments

He said in a statement that he made "comments objectifying women" and that were "unacceptable and regrettable."
Credit: Courtesy of MI Dept. of Civil Rights
Dr. Agustin V. Arbulu

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's Civil Rights Commission is reprimanding Civil Rights Director Agustin Arbulu for inappropriate comments that he has said objectified women.

Chair Alma Wheeler Smith says Arbulu should complete a training program and can't conduct internal or external training on his own during that time.

Arbulu has been director since 2015. He said in a statement that he made "comments objectifying women" and that were "unacceptable and regrettable."

The Civil Rights department investigates discrimination complaints including those involving race and gender.

Commission spokeswoman Vicki Levengood tells the Detroit Free Press Friday that the remark was to a male staffer in May about a woman attending a meeting.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office calls the decision to keep Arbulu as director but take away some of his responsibilities "difficult to comprehend."

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