Department of Justice Moves to Intervene in Do No Harm Lawsuit Against UCLA Medical School

Today, the Department of Justice moved to intervene in Do No Harm’s lawsuit against the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

In May 2025, Do No Harm and Students for Fair Admissions filed a major class action lawsuit against UCLA for its discriminatory DEI medical admissions policy. 

Our lawsuit alleged that, under the guise of “holistic admissions,” UCLA has been violating the Constitution and ignoring federal law in an effort to continue discriminating against applicants on the basis of race.

This critical case has been moving forward in federal court as we fight for all students who have faced, or may face, racial discrimination in UCLA’s medical school admissions. 

On January 28, 2026, the United States government filed its motion to intervene in the case and stop these harmful discriminatory practices from continuing to persist at UCLA.

“The United States was right in its move to join this case, which is of great public importance,” said Do No Harm Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen. “We look forward to the Justice Department’s additional efforts here to get to the bottom of what appears to be an effort by UCLA to continue a race-based medical school admissions process in contravention of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions.”

The Department of Justice complaint cites admissions data showing that black and Hispanic matriculants have on average lower MCAT scores and GPAs than white and Asian applicants, and alleges that this indicates racial discrimination in admissions.

A favorable resolution of this lawsuit will help ensure that universities across the country think twice before discriminating on the basis of race.

Read the Department of Justice’s Motion to Intervene here.

Read the Department of Justice’s complaint here.