A lawsuit alleges a former Metro Transit police chief discriminated against two ranking officers of the department because of their race and to further his own career.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court against the Metropolitan Council, which oversees the Metro Transit police department, maintains that former Police Chief Eddie Frizell “embraced the most ridiculous ethics complaints” by five white officers against plaintiffs Brooke Blakey and Sidney Jones “to impose the most devastating discipline.”

A joint investigation by a Metro Transit police internal affairs sergeant and an external investigator previously concluded that Blakey and Jones violated ethics policy on accepting gifts in August 2021 when their children were given backpacks with laptops as part of a community organization event in Minneapolis, according to the investigation report released a year later.

Frizell demoted Blakey from captain to sergeant and then to officer. She left the department in February 2022 after St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter appointed her to her current role as director of St. Paul’s first Office of Neighborhood Safety.

Jones was demoted from a sergeant to officer, a job he still holds.

According to the lawsuit, the Met Council had “no reason to believe” that the two officers’ children were treated more favorably than other children who participated in the event or received laptops because of their parents’ employment.

Blakey and Jones, who are Black, are the only officers ever to be disciplined under the gift policy, the civil complaint asserts.

“They’ve been greatly wronged,” their attorney, A.L. Brown, said in an interview Friday.Frizell, who is also Black, carried out the demotions for his “personal ambitions” — specifically, to become the U.S. marshal for the District of Minnesota, according to the lawsuit.

“Frizell, a Black man himself, believed that he needed to make a showing (primarily to whites) that he could be ‘tough’ on Black cops,” the lawsuit states. “So he weaponized the community service of the Plaintiffs’ children to demote in rank, debase in spirit and damage the reputation of their parents.”

Frizell, a former Minneapolis police officer, left Metro Transit in May 2022 after being selected to be U.S. marshal of the District of Minnesota and becoming the first Black person in the state’s history to hold the position.

“Eddie Frizell got the job,” the civil complaint reads. “His former employer gets this lawsuit.”

A Met Council spokesperson said Friday the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

A message left with Frizell seeking comment was not returned.

Community event

The community event that prompted the complaints was held by Seeds to Harvest, a North Minneapolis community organization focused on providing service opportunities and summer activities for youth.

According to the investigation report, Jones, while working an overtime shift at the event and representing Metro Transit police, registered his son and received a donated backpack containing a new Dell laptop computer. “Sgt. Jones accepted responsibility, apologized for engaging in the prohibited behavior, and offered to return the backpack and unopened Dell laptop computer,” the report states.

Blakey was in uniform but off duty when she attended the event. She was representing Metro Transit police at the time and accepted, on behalf of her daughter who participated in Seeds to Harvest events, a donated backpack with laptop, according to the investigation report.

The lawsuit, however, contends the event sponsors gave the backpacks directly to the kids after being nominated by members of the public.

“Blakey’s daughter and Jones’s son were treated like every other child participating in the community event,” the complaint says.

Brown, their attorney, said Friday that Seeds to Harvest leadership contacted Frizell prior to the discipline and said that both Blakey’s daughter and Jones’ son properly received laptops for their community service, but never heard back.

Met Council code of ethics policy bars employees “from directly or indirectly receiving any compensation or gift for any activity related to their duties” according to the investigation report. They are allowed to accept gifts or textbooks “of nominal value,” plaques or similar mementos and some other items, which are described in policy.

The lawsuit, however, maintains the gift policy does not apply to community organizations, like Seeds to Harvest, or children of officers.

The internal affairs investigation also found that Blakey violated department policy of off-duty use of her police vehicle “for a personal errand and to transport two family members,” according to the internal affairs report.

The lawsuit alleges the Met Council, through the actions of Frizell, violated Minnesota anti-discrimination laws by disciplining Blakey and Jones “more harshly” under the gift policy “than any white employee.” It contends the agency is aware that its officers have accepted discounts from restaurants, car dealerships, insurance companies and other businesses solely because of their profession as law enforcement officers.

Neither Blakey nor Jones had previously been disciplined by Metro Transit before the alleged gift policy violations, according to the lawsuit, which adds that both received several commendations during their careers with the department.

Law enforcement family

Blakey’s father was Art Blakey Jr., who was State Fair police chief for 37 years and a Ramsey County sheriff’s deputy. She previously was an investigator for the Ramsey County Public Defender’s Office and joined the Metro Transit Police Department in 2014. She became a sergeant and Frizell promoted her to captain in March 2021.

Blakey told the Pioneer Press in an August 2022 interview that she resigned from Metro Transit not because of the demotion, but because the new opportunity arose and she believes in the mission.

Brown downplayed that comment on Friday, pointing out the lawsuit includes a claim for constructive discharge, “which says that the conditions under which she was asked to work were so unreasonable that a person could not stay there. And I think that’s particularly important in the context of police work and where trust is paramount.”

According to the lawsuit, members of the Met Council’s leadership team had formal or informal discussions with Frizell about his potential successor should he become U.S. marshal. And Blakey, being second in command, was an “obvious candidate” to replace him.

The lawsuit demands a jury trial and seeks monetary damages in excess of $50,000 “for the severe stress, embarrassment, humiliation, loss of sleep, anxiety,” lost wages and lost benefits, among other claims. It asks that the Met Council be ordered to “stop its discriminatory practices,” remove the “discriminatory discipline” from the plaintiffs’ employment records and reinstate them to their positions, with back pay.

“And if decency is still a thing, an apology from all involved,” it reads.