The same-sex couple who complained that a Broadway Cab driver left them on the side of Interstate 84 in July because he objected to their sexual orientation have filed a discrimination complaint with the state.

The state Bureau of Labor and Industries will investigate to determine if Broadway Cab Co. violated the Oregon Equality Act of 2007, which protects the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender Oregonians in employment, housing and public places.

, received by the state on Tuesday, contends that the Broadway Cab driver Ahmed Egel "verbally thrashed them with aggressive homophobic comments and made it apparent that they were not welcome to use Broadway Cab."

It urges the state to hold Broadway Cab responsible for its driver's actions, and alleges that the company "aided and abetted" in the discriminatory encounter by not properly supervising or training Egel, and failing to respond to their complaints that night.

The complaint reveals for the first time in detail the couple's allegations of what happened on July 25 when they requested a cab around 11:30 p.m.

The couple, Kate Neal and Shanako Devoll, and a friend Eric Swensied had asked the establishment they were patronizing that night to call them a cab. Swensied went outside to wait for the cab.

While outside, Broadway Cab driver Ahmed Egel asked, "Did you call for a Broadway Cab?" The couple and Swensied responded that they had and got into the cab, requesting a ride to their Northeast Portland home.

As they rode in the cab, Neal started comforting her partner, Devoll, who was upset about something that had happened earlier that night. Neal grabbed Devoll's hand, rested her head on Devoll's shoulder, put her arm around around her and gave her a kiss.

During the display of affection, the couple's friend noticed that the driver was making inappropriate comments about the couple's sexual orientation. Swensied, according to the complaint, told the driver that he couldn't say that about gay people.

At that point, the complaint said, the driver started yelling aggressive homophobic comments at the couple, including : "You can't be gay in my cab!," "It's wrong to be gay!" and "Being gay is bad!"

Neal, who was seated in the middle of the back seat with Devoll on her left and Swensied on her right, demanded that the trip be "ended immediately," according to the complaint. She did so in an attempt to "diffuse the situation," it said.

That's when the driver, according to the couple, pulled over to the side of I-84, in the area of Northeast 39th Street, and demanded that they all exit his cab, the complaint said.

Neal responded that she'd be happy to get out but not on the freeway, and asked the driver to pull off on an exit.

Egel then continued to drive, and used his cell phone to make a call, which they later would learn was his call to a 911 dispatcher.

The passengers said they kept telling Egel to take them somewhere safe, and they'd pay him the fare, whatever it came to.

"Mr. Egel ignored their requests and continued driving at a high rate of speed. Mr. Egel at no time attempted to leave the highway," the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Egel drove past five freeway exits, before pulling over again around Northeast 102nd Avenue and Fremont Street. Egel was still on the phone, and seconds later, a second Broadway Cab parked on the side of the freeway, just feet away.

Devoll, Neal and Swensied got out of Egel's cab and into the back of the second cab. They said Egel was screaming something to the effect that they were "stupid girls."

After the two cab drivers spoke, the second driver told the couple and their friend to get out of his cab. The second driver, they allege in the complaint, told them, "I am not taking you anywhere."

Meanwhile, Devoll had tried calling Broadway Cab to complain. On her third call, the complaint said, she was put through to a supervisor's voice mail.

Neal, Devoll and Swensied said they were forced to climb over a wall, through bushes and over a fence and flagged down Portland police Officer Timothy Mast, who was responding to driver Egel's 911 call about his customers' "refusal to pay," the complaint said.

Mast drove Neal, Devoll and Swensied home, and called Broadway dispatch, and said the three passengers were not going to pay their fare.

The next morning, a Broadway Cab supervisor called the couple to apologize for his drivers' actions the night before. According to the complaint, the supervisor said his drivers acted inappropriately. They quoted him saying, that "you don't pull over to the side of the highway and leave people on the side of the road unless you have a gun to your head."

During the encounter, Egel had called 911.

and they wanted to jump out of the car. He also said the women didn't want to pay. Egal can be heard telling the second cab driver, Petre Stanila, not to take them anywhere because they hadn't paid the fare.

. The city also fined Broadway Cab $1,000 because a company dispatcher told Devoll - who called to complain while standing on the eastbound shoulder of the freeway -- to leave her comment on voice mail.

The complaint marks the 12th one filed with the state that alleges unlawful discrimination in public places under the 2007 equity law.

"Each case is unique. We're committed to a thorough and impartial investigation to determine whether there's substantial evidence of unlawful discrimination,'' Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian said in a prepared statement.

--Maxine Bernstein