The plaintiff says he was denied access to the University of Washington School of Medicine’s BIPOC Physician’s Directory because of his race.
A medical watchdog organization filed a lawsuit against the University of Washington School of Medicine for alleged racial discrimination because of a professional networking database not made available to white students.
Do No Harm, a group opposed to diversity programs in medicine, filed the lawsuit against the medical school and multiple school officials over their BIPOC Physicians Directory, a database where minority students can ask physicians career-oriented questions, National Review has learned.
The database is only available to “black, indigenous, people of color” and allegedly excludes white students and physicians. For that reason, Do No Harm alleges the UW School of Medicine is racially discriminating against white students in violation of the 14th Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Affordable Care Act.
“Defendants’ Directory is doubly discriminatory—in addition to excluding white students who wish to take advantage of a valuable networking tool, the Directory excludes white physicians, even those who would be great resources for medical students of all races,” Do No Harm’s lawsuit reads.
The UW School of Medicine’s office of healthcare equity operates the database as one of its student programs. Students seeking to be part of the private database must request access to it and physicians have to sign up to be listed on it.
An unnamed white physician in Washington, a member of Do No Harm, is cited in the lawsuit as someone harmed by the database’s alleged refusal to allow white physicians to participate. The physician seeks to add his name to the database to mentor medical students of all races but allegedly cannot under the current conditions of the program.
“But because Member A is white, he is ineligible to add his name to the Directory, participate in the Directory program, or serve as a resource to medical stu-dents through the Directory,” the lawsuit continues.
“Member A finds it hurtful, unfair, and offensive that his race—which he cannot control—is being used by Defendants to preclude him from serving as a re-source for students who browse the Directory.”
The lawsuit is being filed in western Washington federal court. Do No Harm is seeking an injunction to prevent the operation of the database in its current form and a judge to declare UW School of Medicine is violating the laws in question. The UW School of Medicine declined to comment.
“Putting racial roadblocks on medical students making the critical career choice of a residency program and blocking white doctors from mentoring medical students is unethical and illegal,” said Do No Harm board chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb.
“UWSOM should be ensuring that its students are well-trained and best able to serve patients.”
In recent years, conservatives have pursued many anti-discrimination cases against institutions of higher education and corporations over diversity, equity, and inclusion programs explicitly barring people of certain demographic characteristics from participating. Those lawsuits have typically cited the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its ban on racial discrimination in schools and employment.
A major victory for conservatives came in 2023 when the Supreme Court ruled against race-based college admissions for violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Since then, multiple large corporations have cited the shifting legal environment and the Supreme Court’s ruling as a reason for shifting away from left-wing diversity initiatives.