(Radiology Business)—Attorneys are seeking a preliminary injunction, compelling Wyoming authorities to restore a radiologist’s role on the state medical board after he was forced to resign in April.
The Liberty Justice Center filed the motion on Tuesday in its ongoing lawsuit against Republican Gov. Mark Gordon. Attorneys with the nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-interest law firm contend that Wyoming’s top official violated the free speech rights of Frederick “Eric” Cubin, MD, who practices in Casper.
Cubin had sent a message from his personal email account earlier this year to all 62 members of the state House of Representatives. He was urging local lawmakers to support “Chloe’s Law,” which prohibits Wyoming physicians from providing gender-affirming care to minors.
Gordon—who later signed the legislation into law—booted the radiologist from the state medical board, concerned that Cubin could appear biased when weighing future matters.
“Governor Gordon violated Dr. Cubin’s First Amendment rights by forcing him to resign from the board as punishment for exercising his right to free speech,” Buck Dougherty, senior counsel at the Austin, Texas-based Liberty Justice Center, said in a statement shared Oct. 1. “We urge the court to uphold Dr. Cubin’s constitutional rights and restore him to his position.”
Michael Pearlman, communications director for Gov. Gordon’s office, said Tuesday that he could not comment on active litigation. The second-term governor gave further insight into his decision to remove the radiologist from the Wyoming Board of Medicine in an April 22 letter shared by the Daily Signal.
“I believe your comments on this particular legislation could give doctors, who are licensed by the Board of Medicine, a reason to be concerned that you might use your position to advocate for a particular position when considering matters that should be considered absent an agenda or prejudice,” he wrote. “Medical professionals should be confident that their licensure, which is their livelihood, will be handled professionally and clinically examined on merits alone. Even the appearance of bias can be disquieting as well as erode confidence in the board’s presumed impartiality.”
Gordon added that he respected Cubin’s right to free speech but was concerned that his advocacy could be construed as coming from the Wyoming Board of Medicine.
“It has never been my intention to inhibit your own ability to express your views unabashedly or to confuse anyone’s personal opinions and beliefs with those of any of our boards,” he wrote. “Therefore, as I have done before, when a member of a board chooses to express personal beliefs in a way that can be construed as speaking for the body, I have elected to relieve that member of the constraints board membership requires. Therefore, in this instance, sadly, I believe it is best to remove you from the Board of Medicine.”
In its Oct. 1 news update, the Liberty Justice Center said it believes that the governor’s letter amounts to “illegal retaliation,” punishing the radiologist for “exercising his rights to free speech and to petition the government.” Along with filing the lawsuit in August, the Center said it also has helped to gather 5,300 signatures from Wyoming residents, petitioning the governor to reinstate Cubin.
Local conservative organization Honor Wyoming (more on them here and here) delivered the petitions to the capital in Cheyenne Tuesday.
“What Governor Gordon did to Dr. Cubin has become a major grassroots issue in Wyoming,” David Scheurn, Honor Wyoming’s director of coalition development and a Teton County Republican precinct committeeman, said in the same statement. “People are tired of political elites of all stripes abusing their authority. The level of support we’ve seen for Dr. Cubin has been unparalleled.”