UPDATE: University removed from lawsuit regarding fired cardiologist who criticized affirmative action

District Judge Marilyn Horan granted the University of Pittsburgh (UPitt) its motion to dismiss the school from a lawsuit filed in late 2021 after the university’s medical school fired Dr. Norman Wang for an article he wrote against affirmative action. 

The Aug. 31 ruling removed UPitt as a defendant in the Wang v. the University of Pittsburgh et al. lawsuit, while the remaining defendants and Dr. Wang will attend a “Telephonic Initial Case Management Conference” on October 5, 2022. 

The conference will allow the remaining parties to discuss how the case will move forward with a judge. 

Campus Reform previously reported on the incident after the Department of Education opened an investigation into the case in November of 2020, and the Center for Individual Rights filed suit on behalf of Dr. Wang on December 15, 2020. 

Dr. Wang wrote a research paper in March 2020 for the Journal for the American Heart Assocation titled “Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity: Evolution of Race and Ethnicity Considerations for the Cardiology Workforce in the United States of America From 1969 to 2019.”

The paper gave a detailed account of the negative consequences of affirmative action. 

[RELATED: Ketanji Brown Jackson to rule in UNC affirmative action lawsuit]

“The [Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education] diversity directive must be recognized as an erosion to freedom for cardiovascular disease training programs to select trainees and even faculty,” Wang wrote. “All affirmative action programs must uphold legal boundaries established by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteen Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Executive Order 11246.”

The article was subsequently retracted by the Journal of the American Heart Association for “misconceptions, misquotes…[and] selective reading” in Aug. 2022

UPitt made a statement on Sept. 9 regarding the decision. 

“The University of Pittsburgh has been removed from a lawsuit by Norman Wang, a School of Medicine professor who penned a controversial white paper that criticized the effectiveness of affirmative action efforts in the medical field,” the announcement read. 

[RELATED: HARVARD Act combats discrimination in race-based admissions decisions]

Race-based admissions are currently the epicenter of two years-long lawsuits involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that will be decided by the United States Supreme Court in the upcoming term. The Supreme Court announced on Aug. 10 that the justices would hear oral arguments for both lawsuits on Oct. 31, 2022. 

Campus Reform reached out to everyone mentioned and will update this article accordingly. 

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