Radiologist sues governor, claiming state’s top official violated his free speech rights
A radiologist has filed suit against Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R), claiming the state’s top official violated his free speech rights.
Frederick “Eric” Cubin, MD, and the Liberty Justice Center submitted the complaint on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. Earlier this year, the radiologist was forced to resign from the state board of medicine over his public support for a law banning the delivery of gender-affirming care to minors.
“Governor Gordon unlawfully retaliated against Dr. Cubin for exercising his First Amendment rights,” Buck Dougherty, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement shared Aug. 29. “People who serve in government positions do not lose their right to speak out on important issues. We look forward to holding the governor accountable for his actions in court.”
Cubin served on the volunteer legislative body until April 29, though his term wasn’t set to expire until 2028. In a February message obtained by local media, the Casper, Wyoming, radiologist had emailed all 62 members of the state house of representatives, urging them to support Children Gender Change Prohibition.
Dubbed “Chloe’s Law” after a local activist, Gordon signed the legislation March 22, less than a month after Cubin’s email. The state’s top official reportedly expressed concern about the optics of the radiologist publicly advocating for the law while serving on the board.
“Medical professionals should be confident that their licensure, which is their livelihood, will be handled professionally and clinically examined on merits alone,” Gordon wrote at the time. “Even the appearance of bias can be disquieting as well as erode confidence in the board’s presumed impartiality.”
Since the Wyoming Medical Society’s public position allegedly did not reflect the perspective held by its members, Cubin contacted the organization asking it to poll members on the issue. However, the WMS “repeatedly ignored his concern.” The radiologist sent his message to local lawmakers Feb. 28 and emphasized that the society’s public statement didn’t match how members felt.
Gov. Gordon booted the radiologist from the board April 22, citing the email in his decision. The Austin, Texas-based Liberty Justice Center—which “fights to protect workers’ rights, school choice, economic liberty, private property rights, and free speech”—contends this amounted to “illegal retaliation.”
“I was removed from the Wyoming State Board of Medicine because I took a stand to protect the children in our state,” Cubin, who has worked for private practice Casper Medical Imaging since 2010, said in the statement from the Liberty Justice Center. “I had been misrepresented by the Wyoming Medical Society and had no choice but to speak up for what I believe to be right. I urged our legislators to be circumspect about the information they were being provided and cautious about what they allow physicians to do to kids in our state—something that is now the law across Wyoming. I am proud to stand with the Liberty Justice Center and fight this violation of my First Amendment rights.”
Radiology Business has contacted the governor’s office for comment and will update this story if it hears back from him.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.