'It's been a long journey': Former Wisconsin chancellor fired over porn films files federal lawsuit to get job back

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MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse chancellor, who was fired in 2023 for pornographic content he created with his wife and then posted and sold online, is now suing to get his teaching job back on campus.

Joe Gow filed a federal lawsuit on Monday -- the day that classes began for the spring semester at the university.

"There's that old saying, the wheels of justice turn very slowly," Gow told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White.

In September 2023, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents voted to revoke Gow's position, after receiving an anonymous tip about sexually explicit materials created in his personal time.

Since then, the termination has garnered national attention -- and raises the question regarding free speech rights -- something Gow cites heavily in the new lawsuit.

"People might not like the books and the videos that my wife and I produced, but we do have the right to do that and put them on the internet on our own time, and I should not have been fired from my tenured faculty position," Gow said. "We have a First Amendment here in the United States that protects those kind of materials."

Gow said in the near year and a half that's since passed, he remains confused over the reasoning for the firing.

"I am just deeply disappointed that they did not follow their own commitment to academic freedom and freedom of expression, which clearly says, you know, we need to protect unpopular ideas and materials, and that's the purpose of the university," Gow said. "So, I think there's a lot of hypocrisy there, and it's very disappointing. I think, you know, I don't quite understand it really."

Gow added that the goal of the lawsuit isn't about money -- he just wants his teaching job back.

"We have great freedom, so let's use that freedom and get me back into the classroom," Gow said. 

And for those who think his education journey is over...

"Oh no, not at all. If anything, it's just beginning. In many ways," Gow said.

When asked for a statement about the lawsuit, Universities of Wisconsin spokesperson Mark Pitsch declined, noting the system does not comment on pending litigation.

As for Gow and his wife, they haven't posted a sexual video since the controversy began, but the couple is working on writing a "tell all" kind of book about their journey.

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