UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland is in legal hot water over an internship program that aimed to provide opportunities for minority high school students interested in health care careers but has been hit with allegations of racial discrimination. This week, the Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit against the hospital and the UC Board of Regents on behalf of a 15-year-old white student who was rejected from the Community Health and Adolescent Mentoring Program for Success (CHAMPS).
A key issue at the heart of the lawsuit is the claim that the CHAMPS program illegally uses race as a criterion for admission, which, according to the foundation, runs counter to both the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the California Constitution. "Our lawsuit is challenging the UC Regents and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital of Oakland for a discriminatory internship program that was denied to our client," attorney Andrew Quinio with the Pacific Legal Foundation told NBC Bay Area. He added that they are asking the court "to declare that this program as it uses race to determine what students are allowed to participate in, it is unconstitutional."
The lawsuit claims that the student, identified as G.H. in court documents, was dismissed solely because of her race despite her qualifications. The filing contends that UCSF Benioff did not evaluate G.H. on her merit but instead judged G.H. by the color of her skin, suggesting the student's rejection was effectively a closed door based on her racial identity. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the foundation claims this violates Proposition 209, which bars public institutions from considering race in education, employment, and contracting.
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital has withheld comment regarding the ongoing litigation. Meanwhile, the Pacific Legal Foundation appears to continue its efforts to systematically challenge programs promoting diversity and inclusion. This lawsuit arrives in the context of the Trump administration's initiatives to curtail such programs, which the former President denounced as "dangerous, demeaning, and immoral," per the San Francisco Chronicle.
