Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow filed a federal lawsuit against the UW System Monday night, seeking reinstatement to the faculty position he was stripped from in September after his continued creation of pornographic films.
The lawsuit, launched in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleges the UW System violated his constitutional freedom of speech rights and seeks a court order reinstating Gow as a professor, as well as unspecified lost wages and other damages.
“The First Amendment protects Dr. Gow's speech, even if it may be unpopular or contrary to the majority of public sentiment,” the lawsuit said. “Indeed, the First Amendment is most important when the danger of stifling controversial speech is at its highest.”
The UW System Board of Regents removed Gow as chancellor in December 2023 for appearing in adult film videos across multiple pornographic websites and placed him on paid administrative leave as he remained a tenured faculty member. After a UW-La Crosse faculty committee recommended the removal of his tenure, the Board of Regents unanimously revoked it “with cause” in September.
Gow told reporters after his firing in September he planned to sue because the board’s decision “violates their own commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression.”
The lawsuit names UW System President Jay Rothman as well as former interim and current UW-La Crosse Chancellors Betsy Morgan and James Beeby. Multiple regents were also named.
The lawsuit alleges Gow’s termination contradicts the UW System’s stated commitment to freedom of expression, highlighting UW Policy Document 4-21, which grants the “right to speak and write as a member of the university community or as a private citizen without institutional discipline or restraint, on scholarly matters, or on matters of public concern.”
Gow’s lawyer, Mark Leitmer, similarly argued in September that Gow’s actions were constitutionally protected as they occurred outside the workplace and were unrelated to Gow’s position.
Leitner, who was provided by the free-speech nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), filed the lawsuit on the first day of spring semester classes at UW-La Crosse, which would have been Gow’s first day in the classroom after nearly 17 years as chancellor. In August, Gow announced retirement plans with plans to transition to a faculty position after the 2023-2024 school year.
When deciding on Gow’s tenure in June, the UW-La Crosse faculty committee argued Gow’s private conduct was “entangled” in his professional role as a UW-La Crosse faculty member, saying Gow “exploited his role as a faculty member and Chancellor to generate interest and revenue from his pornographic content for his own benefit.”
Gow expressed optimism the lawsuit could herald an important decision for freedom of speech, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the lawsuit could also get people to “rethink pornography.”
“Gow’s suit isn’t just seeking to vindicate his own rights,” FIRE said. “It’s seeking to protect the rights of faculty everywhere to engage in protected expression that their administrations may dislike.”
Gavin Escott is the campus news editor for the Daily Cardinal. He has covered protests, breaking news and written in-depth on Wisconsin politics and higher education. He is the former producer of the Cardinal Call podcast. Follow him on X at @gav_escott.
