Press Release

Do No Harm Challenges Minnesota Department of Health’s Discriminatory Racial Quota

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • January 24, 2025
  • Minnesota Department of Health

RICHMOND, VA; January 24, 2024 – Medical watchdog Do No Harm filed a lawsuit against Dr. Brooke Cunningham, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health, over the department advisory council’s discriminatory membership criteria.

Currently, Minnesota law requires the Department’s Health Equity Advisory and Leadership Council to include representatives of certain racial and ethnic groups.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Do No Harm by the Pacific Legal Foundation, alleges that the racial mandate is in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Do No Harm seeks a permanent prohibitory injunction preventing Commissioner Cunningham from enforcing or attempting to enforce the racial mandate.

“Patient care should never be sacrificed on the altar of identity politics, and state medical councils cannot properly safeguard public health when membership is based on the color of their skin over their medical expertise,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, Chairman of Do No Harm. “This blatant racial discrimination is demeaning, patronizing, and unconstitutional. President Trump’s recent DEI executive order should motivate public officials to eliminate this type of racism.”

“Racial quotas deny public service opportunities to qualified professionals based solely on their race,” said Wilson Freeman, attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation. “That’s racial discrimination and it’s a clear violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”

Do No Harm is asking the court for:

  • A declaration that the racial mandate violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  • A permanent injunction prohibiting Commissioner Cunningham and the Minnesota Department of Health from enforcing, or attempting to enforce, the racial mandates.

Read the full complaint here.

Do No Harm, established in April 2022, has rapidly gained recognition and made significant strides in its mission to safeguard healthcare from ideological threats. With over 15,000 members, including doctors, nurses, physicians, and concerned citizens across all 50 states and 14 countries, DNH has achieved over 11,000 media hits in top-tier publications and garnered widespread attention through numerous broadcast news appearances.