DOJ Declares EEOC's Disparate Impact Policies Unconstitutional; UC Davis Medical School Found to Discriminate in Admissions
The Department of Justice announced that UC Davis School of Medicine discriminates based on race in its admissions process, violating the Supreme Court's 2023 ban on affirmative action, while separately declaring the EEOC's 'disparate impact' employment policies unconstitutional. The UC Davis finding follows a six-month investigation concluding the school used socioeconomic proxies — such as family income and parental education — to covertly continue race-conscious admissions through a tool called the 'Davis Scale.' The twin actions represent a significant escalation of the Trump administration's effort to eliminate race-conscious policies across higher education and employment.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division determined that UC Davis School of Medicine violated the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard by adopting admissions practices designed to circumvent the ban on affirmative action. Investigators found that school leadership openly discussed 'skirting' the ruling by using socioeconomic variables — including family income, parental education, and residence in underserved areas — as proxies for race through a proprietary 'Davis Scale' that also adjusted the weight of GPA and MCAT scores. DOJ data from 2023 to 2025 showed that 93% of white and certain Asian admittees had MCAT scores at or above the average Black admittee, and that Black and Hispanic applicants were admitted at rates up to six times higher than white and Asian applicants. UC Davis disputed the findings, stating its process is 'rigorous, individualized, and merit-based' and denying that its practices are discriminatory or inconsistent with applicable law. The Davis finding follows similar determinations last month against UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and Yale University School of Medicine, with the DOJ threatening lawsuits if settlement negotiations fail. Separately, the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel issued a 25-page opinion declaring the EEOC's longstanding 'disparate impact' doctrine — which exposes employers to discrimination liability when hiring outcomes differ by race regardless of intent — unconstitutional, citing recent Supreme Court precedent including Louisiana v. Callais and Ricci v. DeStefano. While the OLC opinion is not binding like a court ruling, legal observers believe it is designed to set the stage for a Supreme Court case that could permanently invalidate disparate impact liability.
What's missing
None of the sources include responses from civil rights organizations, higher education associations, or legal scholars who support socioeconomic-based admissions policies or the disparate impact doctrine. For the EEOC opinion, no Democratic lawmakers, labor groups, or employment discrimination advocates were quoted.
How coverage differed
The DOJ press release and Breitbart present the UC Davis findings as established fact with little qualification, while Breitbart is the only source to include UC Davis's rebuttal statement disputing the characterization of its admissions as discriminatory. The Washington Examiner's coverage focuses exclusively on the EEOC disparate impact opinion and frames it approvingly through conservative legal voices, with no dissenting perspectives included.
What different sources said
- Washington ExaminerRight
DOJ targets disparate impact hiring practices at odds with ‘color-blind Constitution’
Justice Department Finds University of California Davis Medical School Discriminates Based on Race in Admissions
- BreitbartFar Right
DOJ: UC Davis Medical School ‘Discriminates Based on Race in Its Admissions Process’
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