Madison, Wisconsin. In an attempt to regain his position as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a former chancellor who was sacked for his role in the adult entertainment industry filed a federal lawsuit on Monday.
Because of the salaciousness of a prominent university administrator producing pornographic films and discussing them in public, as well as the issues it raises regarding free expression, Joe Gow’s story has attracted national attention.
A spokesman for the Universities of Wisconsin, Mark Pitsch, declined to comment on the case, stating merely that the system does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
Regents fired Gow after learning about porn hobby
After discovering through an anonymous complaint that Gow and his wife, Carmen Wilson, had created and starred in online pornographic videos, published two e-books under false names about how porn enhances their relationship, and discussed sexual issues in their Sexy Healthy Cooking YouTube videos, UW system regents removed Gow as chancellor in December 2023.
After being sacked as chancellor, Gow was placed on paid leave by then-interim Chancellor Betsy Morgan, which prevented him from assuming his backup role as a tenured communications professor at UW-La Crosse. After university lawyers contended that Gow had acted unethically, breached the terms of his contract, and harmed the school’s reputation, the regents formally terminated his position this past September.
Although he told The Associated Press that he and his wife haven’t produced their Sexy Healthy Cooking YouTube show since the summer of 2023, Gow has never expressed regret for creating pornography and hasn’t promised that he won’t do it again.
According to Gow, it has been a very costly pastime, and we are happy with the results. However, we would be amenable to a discussion if someone else offered to produce a video.
Gow alleges that terminating him was unconstitutional
In his case, Gow claims that his right to free speech under the US Constitution was infringed when he was fired from his professorship.
According to the lawsuit, Gow and his wife did not produce any pornographic or unlawful publications or videos. He developed them during his personal time and vacation, distributed them outside of the UW-La Crosse office, and paid for their creation himself. According to Gow, he didn’t intentionally utilize his public role at the university to advertise the material, talk about the books or DVDs with students or coworkers, or persuade people to buy them.
In addition to alleged lost pay and other damages, the lawsuit requests a court order to reinstate Gow as a professor.
According to the lawsuit, Dr. Gow has the First Amendment right to comment as a private person on matters of public interest as a public servant, including healthy human sexuality and the most effective means of fostering monogamous marriages.
Gow told the AP that since Monday is the first day of the spring semester at UW-La Crosse and he ought to be in class, he decided to file the lawsuit in federal court in Madison.
A faculty committee found Gow engaged in unethical conduct
Although a UW-La Cross faculty committee that suggested Gow be dismissed as a professor concluded that making pornographic videos was not immoral, they charged him with abusing his position as a professor to increase interest in and income from the videos.
The committee pointed out that Gow did not disclose that he and his wife had filmed a sex tape with adult film star Nina Hartley when he invited her to speak on campus in 2018. The committee also scolded him for refusing to cooperate with an investigation and questioned his intellectual integrity for portraying the e-books as authentic experiences even though he acknowledged the authors’ creative license. According to Gow, he volunteered to provide written responses to inquiries.