It is the Do No Harm association, a group of medical professions, who have filed, with the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a lawsuit over the state's use of race in making appointments to state boards and commissions.

"State medical boards are given important responsibilities to oversee the quality of care in their state and the safety of patients," explained Do No Harm Chairman Dr. Stanley Goldfarb. "It is crucial that they be the most qualified physicians available. Like all aspects of healthcare, patient safety and patient concerns should be primary, not the skin color or the racial makeup of any oversight committee."

The problem is that Tennessee medical practitioners are under the purview of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners and its chiropractors are under the state's Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

"A state requirement for membership on both boards, however, has nothing to do with medicine or chiropractic care, and everything to do with race. Three separate state laws force the governor to consider race when deciding who can serve on these boards," the legal team explained.

"Tennessee law forces governor after governor to engage in racial discrimination when making appointments to state boards and commissions," said Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Trotter. "Using race to make appointments to government boards is not only demeaning and unconstitutional, but it undermines the distinctive spirit of the Volunteer State by precluding opportunities for Tennesseans to serve their local communities."

The case also challenges racial quotas for Tennessee's Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners.

The foundation explains that it already had reported that more than two dozen states actually have in their laws similar unconstitutional discrimination.

The complaint, in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, in Nashville, explains state law "requires the governor to prefer some potential board members over others solely on account of their race when making appointments to the Boards. Such blatant racial discrimination against individuals who could sit on Tennessee's Chiropractic Board or Medical Board serves no legitimate government purpose. It is demeaning, patronizing, un-American, and unconstitutional."

It explains the dilemma facing the state right now:

There is currently one opening on the Chiropractic Board for a licensed chiropractor. That seat became available on May 1, 2024, and currently has a holdover until a successor is appointed by the Governor and qualifies. The Chiropractic Board's other six members are all Caucasian. Thus, the Governor must consider a potential board member's race as a factor in making his appointment decision. Specifically, when considering who to appoint to the Chiropractic Board that is currently composed only of Caucasian members, the Governor must give preference to candidates who are a racial minority. In addition to the current vacancy, the Chiropractic Board is scheduled to have vacancies open for licensed chiropractors on May 1 of 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028.

It cites violations of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause in the U.S. Constitution, and it seeks an injunction prohibiting the enforcement of the racial quotas.