Tipsheet

This State Agency Rejected Her Because She's White – Now She's Suing

Jeff Charles
Jeff Charles  |  February 25, 2026 9:00 AM

A Rhode Island English teacher who has been a vocal critic on “equity” curricula is now suing state health officials, alleging they used diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices to exclude her from the public health commission that advises the governor and state legislature.

Ramona Bessinger, with help from the Pacific Legal Foundation, filed the lawsuit against the state’s Commission for Health Advocacy & Equity (CHAE) in December. The complaint accuses the agency of operating under unconstitutional race and sex quotas that deny Bessinger an equal opportunity to participate in public service in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection and Citizenship Clauses.

The complaint refers to state law requiring that CHAE’s 20 members be majority “representatives of the racial and ethnic minority population” and another mandate that all state boards “reflect the racial and gender composition” of the state’s population. These laws show that the state is prioritizing immutable characteristics over merit, according to the lawsuit.

Bessinger has been on the front lines in the debate over government-run education — especially when it comes to the infusion of progressive ideology in K-12 classrooms. “I noticed right away that there was a common thread occurring in all the curriculum materials, and that was anti-American, anti-white, and of course, this bizarre focus and emphasis on sexuality,” she told Townhall.

She has been fighting this battle since the COVID-19 pandemic when Rhoda Island ramped up efforts to use government-run schools to indoctrinate students into leftist ideology. She said “there were a lot of curriculum changes, especially things around the LGBTQ issue and equity curriculum changes in Rhode Island” and that she “spoke up and pushed back on a lot of … those curriculum changes in the English curriculum for the Providence school system.”

She was eventually placed on paid leave for questioning district policies. This motivated her to seek positions on local DEI and health boards so she could present an opposing voice against the DEI push. But when she tried to join the health commission, they quickly rejected her. “To my surprise, they responded immediately and basically said, ‘No, you cannot be on this committee’...and I think by their own admission, they want people of color, and that is simply discriminatory.”

The Commission for Health Advocacy & Equity is a statewide advisory body created in 2011 to “advocate for the integration of activities that will help achieve health equity” and to “advise the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Rhode Island Department of Health…on racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic health disparities,” according to the agency’s website.

By statute, the health director must appoint 20 members. The mandate requires that at least 11 of these members must be racial or ethnic minorities. Brandon Beyer, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, explained that public records show “something like 17 members now and 13 of them are racial and ethnic minorities,” which means the quota was already fulfilled.

However, he noted that “the problem with Ramona’s application…is that the commission is disincentivized to appoint [a white applicant] because that’s one fewer seat that they can have to fulfill that majority-minority quota.”

Bessinger believes her race and political viewpoint were the driving factors in rejecting her application. “There's no such thing as equity‑based medicine,” she said. “There's no such thing as equity‑based anything. We are human beings first. We should not be hired because we are black, white, or any color.”

The teacher is seeking declaratory judgments labeling Rhode Island’s statutes as unconstitutional civil rights violations and is asking the court to impose a permanent injunction prohibiting their enforcement.