Health Affairs Drops Racial Fellowship Requirements Following Do No Harm Lawsuit

Declaring Victory Over Discrimination, Do No Harm Voluntarily Drops Suit Against Health Affairs

On January 22, 2024, Do No Harm announced it voluntarily dropped a lawsuit against Health Affairs’ Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees after Health Affairs eliminated its discriminatory racial eligibility requirements.

In September 2022, Do No Harm filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the Health Affairs fellowship requirement was racially discriminatory against white students: Applicants were only eligible if they “identify as American Indian/Alaskan Native, African American/Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic/Latino.” While the lawsuit was pending, Health Affairs eliminated the unlawful requirement. As Health Affairs no longer considers race in the fellowship, Do No Harm voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit without prejudice.

“We are pleased that Health Affairs has decided to drop its racially discriminatory requirements for their fellowship,” said Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb. “Segregation based on race is illegal and Health Affairs has recognized that. Do No Harm will continue to fight divisive and discriminatory ideology in healthcare wherever we can find it.”

The withdrawal filing can be found here: https:/ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_temp.pl?file=8719918-0–126033.pdf&type=application/pdf (donoharmmedicine.org).

The original lawsuit can be found here: We’re Suing Health Affairs For Racial Discrimination (donoharmmedicine.org).