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A conservative legal group founded by White House staffer Stephen Miller has filed a complaint with a D.C. federal agency alleging that Henry Ford Health, based in Detroit, is engaging in unlawful discriminatory practices, using Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles to make decisions about hiring, recruitment, organ transplants, research and medical care.
Henry Ford Health is based in Detroit, a city that is more than 75 percent Black.
America First Legal, a national nonprofit, submitted a complaint dated April 28 to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights, requesting an investigation into “discriminatory DEI practices at Henry Ford Health in violation of federal law.” Copies of the complaint were also sent to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The complaint calls for Henry Ford Health to immediately suspend all race- and sex-based policies and quotas and urges legal and administrative penalties, including the termination of federal funding, if the hospital fails to comply.
“Henry Ford’s DEI policies are textbook violations of Title VI — and taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize them. Americans deserve to know that life-and-death decisions, job opportunities, and medical education are based on merit, not identity politics,” said Megan D. Redshaw, the attorney who filed the complaint, in a statement on the America First Legal website.
Redshaw did not immediately respond to a Deadline Detroit email requesting further comment.
In a statement to Deadline Detroit on Tuesday, a Henry Ford Health spokesperson said:
“Henry Ford Health respects and fully complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination laws. For more than a century, Henry Ford Health has been fully committed to serving Michigan's richly diverse communities, providing health care services and employment opportunities to everyone. Our commitment to non-discrimination remains steadfast.”
The complaint notes that former President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending what it described as illegal discrimination and “restoring merit-based opportunity.”
“Since 2021, HFH has received nearly $1 billion in federally obligated awards containing DEI-related provisions that embed race- and sex-based priorities into clinical, research, and administrative functions,” the complaint states. “These awards show that HFH operates federally funded programs that affirmatively integrate DEI into its internal governance, recruitment, clinical decision-making, and service delivery.”
As one example of concern, the legal foundation cites $2.5 million in federal funds allocated through September 2027 to address maternal care for a population in Detroit that is 76.6 percent Black — a program the complaint claims is “expressly aimed at race-specific intervention and workforce development.”
Another concern raised is the allocation of $245,532 in federal funds for a study examining how “maternal lifetime exposure to structural racism” affects newborns.
“The project constructs a neighborhood ‘structural racism score’ and explicitly links race-based environmental measures to biological outcomes, embedding race-conscious design into taxpayer-funded medical research,” the complaint states.
The complaint further alleges that Henry Ford Health’s “discriminatory programs and practices are not incidental or isolated — they are flagrant, ongoing, and systematic violations of non-discrimination mandates. HFH’s intentional and unlawful misuse of federal taxpayer funds warrants immediate investigation and enforcement action.”
The legal foundation also raises concerns about organ transplants, alleging that HFH “openly states that its organ transplant program considers race and social vulnerability.”
Co-founder Stephen Miller
“HFH has made clear that race is now a factor that contributes to transplant decision-making,” the complaint states. “HFH has abandoned an objective, individualized model based on clinical need.”
The America First Legal website features a photo of the foundation's co-founder Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, along with the following message:
“The radical left is using its power inside and outside of the government to destroy our country. It is opening America’s borders, shutting down American energy, trying to take over American elections, and violating the fundamental civil rights of the American people. At America First Legal, we are building a team of some of the nation’s best legal, political, and strategic thinkers to challenge this lawlessness at every turn.”
