HHS Discrimination Complaint Against Oregon Health and Science Univ Filed By Equal Protection Project

HHS Discrimination Complaint Against Oregon Health and Science Univ Filed By Equal Protection Project

The Equal Protection Project (EqualProtect.org) has challenged over 275 institutions regarding over 800 programs that discriminate in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Most of our challenges have been filed at the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, but we also have filed multiple times at the Department of Justice.

For the second time we have filed a complaint against a university at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alleging not only a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but also the nondiscrimination requirements of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Our first HHS filing was against Yale Medical School and American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (case page).

Our most recent filing on May 20, 2026, was against the public Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, asserting violation of the Civil Rights Act, the 14th Amendment, and Obamacare. From the Civil Rights Complaint:

We bring this civil rights complaint against Oregon Health and Science University (“OHSU”) for its administration and promotion of six (6) programs and scholarships which discriminate based on race, color, and/or national origin, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”), the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1 (“Equal Protection Clause”) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“Section 1557”).2 This pervasive discrimination in health care programs and services necessitates HHS action to enforce the non-discrimination laws. Moreover, these programs and scholarships violate state discrimination laws3 as well as those of OHSU.4

As detailed in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023), race-based classifications in education and training are subject to strict scrutiny. Programs that explicitly or effectively prioritize applicants from certain racial or ethnic groups while excluding or disadvantaging others (e.g., “underrepresented in medicine” preferences that operate as proxies for race) violate civil rights laws. This includes scholarships, diversity-focused residencies, fellowships, mentoring programs, and “pathway” initiatives that use racial criteria for eligibility, scoring, or selection. Programs that automatically qualify some racial or ethnic groups (e.g., “underrepresented minorities”) while requiring other groups to show additional factors (such as economic disadvantage) impose unlawful discriminatory standards. [Emphasis added.]

Equal access to medical education and training should be based on individual merit, qualifications, and potential to serve patients — not racial group membership. Discriminatory practices undermine public trust in medicine, fairness, and the integrity of the healthcare workforce undermining HHS’s nondiscrimination requirements and policy goals.

That highlighted language is key. We are seeing many institution mixing racial and non-racial requirements, such as being an “underrepresented minority” and economic factors, perhaps because they think this will camouflage the race discrimination. But granting some racial groups automatic acceptance while requiring other groups to prove additional factors is itself unlawful.

We then set forth the programs and scholarships, highlighting the discriminatory requirements such as:

• “This program is seeking individuals who are traditionally underrepresented in research (i.e. those who identify as minorities, have a disability, are from a rural environment, identify as LGBTQ+, are low income, are houseless, or are first generation college students).”
• “You come from either an underrepresented minority group; have experienced economic hardship; are first in your family to attend college; have experienced other economic, educational, ethnic/cultural, family circumstance hardships; or a student with disability”
• “… programs to advance the academic, career and personal development of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students.”
• “…with the specific goal of increasing the numbers of underrepresented minority students in scientific research and medical careers.”
• “Persons from racial or ethnic groups that are under-represented in medicine and biomedical sciences: (a) Black or African American, (b) Hispanic or Latino/a/e (individual of any gender identity originating from Mexico, Central or South America, or Caribbean cultures), (c) American Indian or Alaska Native, and (d) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.”
• “Applicant also needs to meet one of the following criteria: Underrepresented minorities in nursing (racial or ethnic minorities)”

As we do in all our civil rights complaints, we then discuss the law under the Civil Rights Act (Title VI) and for public universities, the 14th Amendment. Here we also discussed Obamacare:

ACA Section 1157

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in certain health programs and activities. Section 1557 provides that, except as otherwise provided in title I of the ACA, an individual shall not, on the grounds prohibited under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, or section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under, any health program or activity, any part of which is receiving Federal financial assistance, including credits, subsidies, or contracts of insurance, or under any program or activity that is administered by an executive agency or any entity established under title I of the ACA. This part applies to health programs or activities administered by recipients of Federal financial assistance from the Department, Department-administered health programs or activities, and title I entities that administer health programs or activities”.12 OHSU’s health research and education programs and scholarships for health care professionals are such activities. This includes funding from the HHS for programs that provide education and research for health care professionals. The nondiscrimination requirements apply broadly, covering “all of the operations of any entity principally engaged” in administering or providing these types of health initiatives.13 Clearly the programs and scholarship at issue here focused on health education fall under this broad ACA protection.

OHSU is Oregon’s only public health academic center. It is a system of hospitals and clinics across Oregon and Southwest Washington State. It is an institution of learning, with schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry and public health with a network of campuses and partners throughout Oregon.14 OHSU is therefore subject to the prohibitions of Sec. 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

OHSU’s explicit race, ethnicity, and/or national origin eligibility requirements are presumptively invalid, and their offering, promotion, and administration of these programs also violates Sec. 1557 Of the Affordable Care Act.

Obamacare is the law. All of it. Including the nondiscrimination provisions.

Reminder: we are a small organization going up against powerful and wealthy government and private institutions devoted to DEI discrimination. Donations are greatly needed and appreciated.

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