27-01-2025
Former UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow, fired over porn videos, sues for wrongful termination
Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow filed a federal lawsuit Monday in a last-ditch effort to reclaim his teaching job after he was fired last fall for appearing in pornographic videos with his wife.
The lawsuit argues Gow's termination violated the First Amendment and flouted the UW System's committment to free expression.
"I think this is an important moment for free speech and I'd like to think this will result in a court saying you can't fire someone for what they do on the internet on their own time," Gow, 64, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It sounds grandiose but maybe we can get people to rethink pornography."
Milwaukee-based attorney Mark Leitner and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a national free speech-focused nonprofit, filed the lawsuit on Gow's behalf on Monday, the first day of spring semester classes at UW-La Crosse.
Had Gow not been fired last September, the semester would have marked his return to the classroom after nearly 17 years as chancellor.
The UW System did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the UW Board of Regents to reinstate Gow as a tenured professor and award an unspecified amount in damages.
Gow's termination meant the loss of his $91,915 faculty salary and more than $313,000 in unused sick leave. A program allows state employees to convert unused sick leave to pay for health insurance premiums upon retirement. UW-La Crosse said Gow's amount could have potentially purchased health insurance for he and his wife through age 75.
"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."
Gow and his wife filmed videos, sometimes with adult film stars, for years. The couple decided in late 2023 to post the videos on public platforms, such as OnlyFans, LoyalFans and PornHub.
The regents fired Gow as chancellor days after the UW System learned of his unorthodox hobby from a complainant who requested anonymity. Gow's contract, however, also came with a tenured faculty appointment.
During the disciplinary process to terminate Gow's professorship, UW System attorneys argued Gow would pose a "serious risk" for UW-La Crosse if he returned to the classroom. They said he displayed a pattern of poor judgment, citing his 2018 decision to invite an adult film actress he had filmed with to speak on campus and extensive media interivews.
UW System attorneys said legal precedent was on their side, pointing to a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court case about a San Diego police officer fired after posting sex tapes online. The court ruled in favor of the city, which argued the officer's activity hampered the department's function and wasn't a matter of public concern.
Gow said the San Diego case was a was a poor and outdated comparison because the police officer wore his official city police uniform in the video and pantomimed police work, while he made brief and vague mentions on video to his job, such as a 'Midwestern location,' his 'academic career,' and one instance when his name was said on camera.
A faculty committee unanimously recommended Gow lose his teaching job. They said a professor creating porn videos in their private capacity wasn't unethical, but they found Gow's response after his pastime became public to be problematic. They said he "exploited" his role as a faculty member and capitalized on the controversy without the university's interests in mind.
Gow pointed to UW-La Crosse's strong financial position and healthy enrollment, saying these undercut claims about reputational harm.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel asked several experts last year to weigh the merits of Gow's case because he had publicly floated the idea of a lawsuit even before he was fired.
Corey Silverstein, one of only a few attorneys in the country who specialize in the adult entertainment industry, estimated wrongful termination claims by adult content creators are won less than 30% of the time, and even less so when it involves an educator. That's because employment contracts often have morality clauses requiring workers to meet a certain behavioral standard.
The UW-La Crosse employee handbook requires faculty to 'exhibit a level of behavior supporting the university mission."
Howard Schweber, a UW-Madison political science professor and expert on constitutional law, said one factor that may hurt Gow is his videos were not just private activities, but earning him money. Commercial expression is much less protected under the First Amendment than other forms of communication.
In the four months since Gow lost his job, he said he's felt "a little stir crazy." He's given interviews to a couple of podcasts and is working on his third book with his wife, Carmen Wilson, about their experience in the adult entertainment industry.
Wilson continues to create vegan cooking videos that Gow said he films. He said the two of them haven't filmed a sex video since they made their last one in summer 2023.
One of the more rewarding experiences Gow and Wilson recently had was speaking to a media law class at the University of Minnesota. They took a photo on the First Amendment bench in Murphy Hall, which houses the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
The class clapped at the end of their talk, the instructor, Christopher Terry, said. Several went up to the couple afterward to ask for a selfie. Gow said the young students were much more open-minded than the administrators he faced off against over the past year.
Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@ or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former UW-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow sues over porn videos
