Casper radiologist Dr. Eric Cubin wants his seat back on the Wyoming Board of Medicine immediately as his lawsuit alleging Gov. Mark Gordon forced him out.
In a Tuesday court filing, Cubin requests a preliminary injunction putting him back on the board while the case is being litigated.
Cubin resigned from the board in April after Gordon threatened to remove him over Cubin’s vocal support and lobbying for legislation banning transgender surgeries and treatments on minors in Wyoming, known as “Chloe’s Law.”
Gordon ended up signing the bill.
In his filing, Cubin claims Gordon forced him off the state board, which has caused him “irreparable injury,” “economic injury” and “harm to his professional reputation.”
He believes restoring him to the board will serve the public’s interest.
“Ordering the governor to reinstate Dr. Cubin to the board protects Dr. Cubin from the irreparable harm he has suffered and will continue to suffer from the loss of his First Amendment rights, and preserving federal Constitutional rights serves the public interest,” the filing reads.
Cubin filed a lawsuit against the governor in August, requesting he be put back on the board, a declaratory judgment that Gordon violated his free speech and right to petition, and any monetary damages as determined.
Gordon’s Response
In a September court filing, Gordon responded and said Cubin isn’t entitled to any relief.
He also argued that he didn’t force Cubin off the board and that it was the doctor himself who resigned. Although this is technically true, Gordon wrote Cubin a letter saying that, “I believe it is best to remove you from the Board of Medicine,” which prompted Cubin’s resignation.
“I would never have resigned if I did not have a binding letter in hand stating that I had been removed,” Cubin wrote in his Tuesday filing.
Cubin’s seat on the board is still vacant more than five months later.
Gordon also argued that his actions are protected by qualified immunity and the 11th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which limits lawsuits against a state by an outside party. It’s not clear what this is in reference to because even though Cubin is represented by a Texas law firm, he is a Wyoming resident.
What Happened?
The governor forced Cubin from the board as a result of an email the doctor wrote to state legislators, which the governor said could have given the impression to the public that he has a conflict of interest on the issue of transgender care and was speaking on behalf of the board.
Under the law, which passed the Legislature and was signed by Gordon less than a month after Cubin sent his email, the Wyoming Board of Medicine can revoke a physician’s license if he or she has offered any “gender-affirming care” to children in Wyoming.
In his letter, Cubin slammed the Wyoming Medical Society, of which he is a member, for opposing Chloe’s Law. He said this position did not reflect the opinions of the members of the Medical Society or medical practitioners in Wyoming at large.
Although Cubin never said he was speaking on behalf of the board when he sent his email, Gordon argues he didn’t make that clear and did end up affecting the board. The governor also said pressuring Cubin off the board did nothing to impugn overall societal free speech.
In a Tuesday press release announcing the request for injunction, the Liberty Justice Center, the firm representing Cubin, said it will be hand-delivering more than 5,300 signatures on petitions signed by Wyoming residents asking Gordon to reinstate Cubin, with the help of the conservative advocacy group Honor Wyoming.
In his September response, Gordon requested a jury trial in the case.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
