{"id":2394861,"date":"2025-01-24T14:09:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-24T19:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-challenges-dei-driven-racial-quotas-for-minnesota-state-board-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T14:12:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T19:12:52","slug":"lawsuit-challenges-dei-driven-racial-quotas-for-minnesota-state-board-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-challenges-dei-driven-racial-quotas-for-minnesota-state-board-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit challenges DEI-driven racial quotas for Minnesota state board &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawsuit-challenges-dei-driven-racial-quotas-for-minnesota-state-board-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2394861&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal lawsuit in \u2063Minnesota, filed \u2064by \u2062the nonprofit organization \u200bDo No Harm, challenges racial \u2063quotas for membership \u200con the \u2064state&#8217;s Health Equity Advisory and leadership\u200b (HEAL) Council. The council was established to address public health inequities\u2062 and mandates representation from specific racial \u2063groups, including African American, \u2064Asian \u2062American, and various others. The lawsuit\u200b argues that these quotas\u2062 violate the Equal \u200dProtection Clause \u200cof the U.S. Constitution, claiming they\u200b result in racial\u2064 discrimination\u200b by denying qualified \u2064professionals opportunities solely based on race. \u2064The plaintiffs seek a declaration that these\u200b racial mandates are unconstitutional and\u200b a\u200d permanent \u200cinjunction against their enforcement.This legal action aligns wiht a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-doc-sheds-light-on-dangerous-impact-of-defund-the-police-movement\/\" title=\"New Doc Sheds Light On Dangerous Impact Of \u2018Defund The Police\u2019 Movement\">broader national movement<\/a> against diversity, equity, and \u2062inclusion (DEI) initiatives, particularly following executive orders from the Trump \u2064administration aimed at dismantling such programs. The case highlights tensions \u200dsurrounding\u200d race-based criteria in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-to-cancel-billions-more-in-student-loan-debt-repayment\/\" title=\"Biden to cancel more student loan debt repayment.\">public\u200c service roles<\/a>, with advocates for the lawsuit \u2063arguing that \u2063expertise, rather than race, should drive public health decisions.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Lawsuit challenges DEI-driven racial quotas for Minnesota state board<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1938072\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong> A new federal lawsuit in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/minnesota\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Minnesota<\/a> is challenging the racial quotas for membership on the state&rsquo;s Health Equity Advisory and Leadership, or HEAL, Council, an advisory board tasked with addressing &ldquo;inequities&rdquo; in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-report-covid-19-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-u-s-in-2020\/\" title=\"CDC Report: COVID-19 Third Leading Cause Of Death In U.S. In 2020\">public health policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>In the suit, Do No Harm, a nonprofit organization of medical professionals, argues the quotas violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit comes amid a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3296403\/trump-orders-all-federal-dei-staff-put-on-leave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">national shift<\/a> against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, driven by the Trump administration&rsquo;s aggressive rollback of DEI programs.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Racial quotas deny public service opportunities to qualified professionals based solely on their race,&rdquo; said Wilson Freeman, attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, which is representing Do No Harm. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s racial discrimination and unconstitutional.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>HEAL, tasked with advising the Minnesota Department of Health, requires membership to include representatives from specific racial groups, including African American, Asian American, &ldquo;Latina\/o\/x communities,&rdquo; and American Indian communities, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrl.mn.gov\/agencies\/detail?AgencyID=2332\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">according<\/a> to a readout on the state legislature&rsquo;s website. DNH argues this approach undermines equal opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>The nine-page complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for Minnesota, states, &ldquo;Governmental classifications on the basis of race violate the Equal Protection Clause unless they are narrowly tailored to a compelling governmental interest,&rdquo; noting that the &ldquo;racial mandate&rdquo; in Minnesota&rsquo;s state law &ldquo;does not serve a compelling governmental interest and is not narrowly tailored to remediating past intentional discrimination.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Do No Harm, with over 14,000 members, contends that medical expertise, not race, should guide public health decisions, noting in a press release that&nbsp;&ldquo;there is no shortage of qualified Minnesotans who could serve on the board.&rdquo; The group contends that &ldquo;at least one member&rdquo; of DNH, known as &ldquo;Member A&rdquo; in the court filing, would be qualified for the position.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the racial mandate is unconstitutional and a permanent injunction prohibiting its enforcement. &ldquo;So long as this racial quota remains in place, Member A will never receive equal consideration for the openings on the Council,&rdquo;&nbsp;the complaint states.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, the chairman of DNH, criticized the council&rsquo;s policies. &ldquo;Patient care should never be sacrificed on the altar of identity politics. Professionals chosen because of their race lose the full honor of their expertise,&rdquo; Goldfarb said. &ldquo;President Trump&rsquo;s recent DEI executive order should motivate public officials to eliminate this type of racism.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Since resuming office, President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3292719\/trump-order-reversal-dei-restore-base-names-changed-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">issued sweeping executive orders<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/3297082\/trump-moves-toward-elimination-of-dei-policies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">dismantle DEI structures<\/a> across federal agencies, terminate affirmative action requirements, and redefine the term &ldquo;sex&rdquo; to align with biological sex rather than gender identity. These actions reflect a broader legal movement challenging DEI policies in corporations, education, and government following the Supreme Court&rsquo;s 2023 decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE&nbsp;TO&nbsp;READ&nbsp;MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The case,&nbsp;<em>Do No Harm v. Cunningham<\/em>, seeks to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">end race-based criteria<\/a> on HEAL, arguing that such practices perpetuate discrimination rather than equity.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>contacted the HEAL Council for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Read the lawsuit below:<\/p>\n<p style=\" margin: 12px auto 6px auto; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none; display: block;\">   <a title=\"View Do No Harm, Inc., a nonprofit corporation,  Plaintiff,  v. Dr. Brooke Cunningham, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health, on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/819710325\/Do-No-Harm-Inc-a-nonprofit-corporation-Plaintiff-v-Dr-Brooke-Cunningham-in-her-official-capacity-as-Commissioner-of-the-Minnesota-Department#from_embed\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Do No Harm, Inc., a nonprofit corporation,  Plaintiff,  v. Dr. Brooke Cunningham, in her official capacity&hellip;<\/a> by <a title=\"View kaelandeese's profile on Scribd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/user\/697301857\/kaelandeese#from_embed\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">kaelandeese<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"scribd_iframe_embed\" title=\"Do No Harm, Inc., a nonprofit corporation,  Plaintiff,  v. Dr. Brooke Cunningham, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health,\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/embeds\/819710325\/content?start_page=1&amp;view_mode=scroll&amp;access_key=key-3CwlZBpZHychwgyzbucj\" data-auto-height=\"false\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.7729220222793488\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"doc_38090\" width=\"100%\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1938072\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1938072\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawsuit contests racial quotas for Minnesota&#8217;s HEAL Council<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2394862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP23182528738245.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[16574,4585,5698,49167,49168],"class_list":["post-2394861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dei","tag-lawsuit","tag-minnesota","tag-racial-quotas","tag-state-board"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AP23182528738245.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2394861"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2394865,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2394861\/revisions\/2394865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2394862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2394861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2394861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2394861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}