The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) was slapped with a lawsuit this week accusing the organization of discriminating against whites for a scholarship program.
The suit, filed by Do No Harm, an organization that opposes the politicization of medicine, claims that the association violated federal law by excluding white applicants from a “diversity scholarship” program designed to grant $1,250 to four students pursuing careers as emergency medical technicians. Following the filing of the lawsuit, the organization removed the scholarship from its website.
“The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians is given the important responsibility of training America’s first responders,” said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, Chairman of Do No Harm.”Like all aspects of healthcare, training the best and brightest to provide the best care for patients should be the primary concern of all medical organizations, not the skin color of an EMT.”
The lawsuit specifically argues that because the scholarship is legally categorized as a contract, excluding white students based on their race constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Do No Harm is representing an unidentified white student who is on the verge of beginning EMT training classes.
The suit from Do No Harm, which has expanded to more than 6,000 members since it was launched in April 2022, seeks a “permanent injunction barring NAEMT from continuing the program,” as well as a “a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction barring NAEMT from closing the application period, selecting scholarship recipients, or enforcing the racially discriminatory eligibility criteria.”
The lawsuit comes at a time when institutions throughout the United States, spanning from large corporations with significant financial resources to prestigious Ivy League universities, are endorsing the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda. Frequently, they seek to rationalize acts of racial discrimination as part of this initiative, the Daily Wire reported.
The DEI agenda has gained currency in the health field under the banner of “health equity,” which incorporates the doctrines of Critical Race Theory (CRT) into the medical field, the outlet added.
Do No Harm has specifically taken a stand against efforts to embed CRT into the health field as it seeks to “protect healthcare from the disastrous consequences of identity politics.”
