Rachel Dolezal

WASHINGTON — Former Washington state NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal, who drew national attention after being accused of lying about her racial background, has violated ethics rules while heading a police oversight commission, a senior city official said on Wednesday.

Investigators hired by the city of Spokane to probe a whistleblower complaint found Dolezal had publicly named citizens who made complaints against police officers, in violation of confidentiality rules, City Council President Ben Stuckart said.

“There were multiple occasions at open public meetings, that were recorded, where names of complainants were discussed in the open and they should have been confidential,” Stuckart said, calling on her to resign from the commission.

Dolezal, 37, resigned this week as president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading civil rights organization, amid reports she was falsely claiming to be African-American.

Dolezal has told U.S. media she identifies as Black and the controversy has triggered a national debate over the bounds of racial identity and self-identification.

She was raised in a home with adopted Black siblings and enrolled at historically Black Howard University, according to a White Montana couple who told U.S. media they are her biological parents.

Dolezal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.