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The lawyers for Dr. Allan Josephson say that the case should serve as a cautionary tale to other universities: If they choose to demote, harass, and fire an employee for having a dissenting opinion, the consequences “can be very expensive.”
Child psychiatrist Dr. Allan Josephson has won a $1.6 million settlement from the University of Louisville (UofL) following a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that school officials likely retaliated against the professor for his views on the harms of gender transitions in children.
The medical school at UofL brought Josephson in as a professor in 2003 and later named him the chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology. He quickly turned the “struggling” department into “a program that received national reputation for its work,” according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented him in his legal challenge.
While Josephson’s work garnered high praise from the university, his views on child gender transitions soon drew the ire of colleagues.
In 2014, he began speaking out about the harms of gender transitions in children and later became an expert witness in certain court cases regarding children’s gender dysphoria.
In 2017, Josephson was a speaker at a panel on gender dysphoria in children held by the Heritage Foundation. Though he spoke in his personal capacity, his colleagues, especially those at the school’s LGBT center, began a campaign to punish Josephson.
It worked, as he was first demoted and then his contract was not renewed. Court documents, including an “Allan tracking document” that collected solicited complaints, showed that those who disliked Josephson’s views actively sought to get him fired, not because of any poor job performance but because of his statements on the harms of gender transitions.
In September, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a federal district court ruling that the school had retaliated against him.
On Monday, ADF and UofL filed a joint motion of dismissal following the settlement, in which UofL agreed to pay Josephson $1.6 million.
Barham called the settlement a “major victory” for free speech, explaining,
“As early as 2014, Dr. Josephson saw the truth behind dangerous procedures that activists were pushing on children struggling with their sex. He risked his livelihood and reputation to speak the truth boldly, and the university punished him for expressing his opinion—ultimately by dismissing him. But public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views. Dr. Josephson’s case illustrates why—because the latest and best science confirms what he stated all along. Hopefully, other public universities will learn from this that if they violate the First Amendment, they can be held accountable, and it can be very expensive.”
For his part Josephson said he is “glad to finally receive vindication for voicing what I know is true,” before adding,
“Children deserve better than life-altering procedures that mutilate their bodies and destroy their ability to lead fulfilling lives. In spite of the circumstances I suffered through with my university, I’m overwhelmed to see that my case helped lead the way for other medical practitioners to see the universal truth that altering biological sex is impossibly dangerous while acceptance of one’s sex leads to flourishing.”
{Published September 12, 2024} The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has found that University of Louisville officials may have retaliated against a professor for expressing his views on gender dysphoria and must go to trial and answer that charge before a jury.
Dr. Allan Josephson joined the University of Louisville as a professor at its medical school in 2003. Josephson was named the Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, which is under the Department of Pediatrics.
Josephson later grew concerned over gender transition treatments and began speaking out about the matter in 2014. He consulted on cases involving children who were seeking to use the bathroom or locker room of their chosen gender and served as an expert witness in lawsuits regarding childhood gender dysphoria.
In 2017, he was invited to speak at a Heritage Foundation panel entitled “Gender Dysphoria in Children: Understanding the Science and the Medicine.”
The Heritage Foundation explained to attendees that the panelists were speaking in their personal capacity and not on behalf of their organizations, and the Heritage Foundation paid for Josephson’s travel.
After Josephson’s comments, many at the university were angry with his views and confronted him.
Josephson was then demoted from his position as division chief.
After his demotion, his supervisors began crafting his job responsibilities. Before they had finished crafting his duties, they began tracking his activities and seeking to gain documentation that could justify not renewing his contract.
Some of the officials began tracking him before he was even demoted.
Months after establishing his job duties, supervisors met with Josephson, claiming that his performance was insufficient. This was the only formal job performance warning Josephson had ever received during his career.
Usually medical school employees are placed on performance-improvement plans if their job performance is found to be unsatisfactory, but officials never even spoke about a performance-improvement plan to Josephson. He claims that although he increased his efforts, his higher-ups never discussed this improvement with him in the months between his performance meeting in July 2018 and February 2019, when his contract was not renewed.
Evidence showed that as early as March 2018 supervisors were already predicting Josephson would not be back. They succeeded in ending his 40-year career.
He sued the University of Louisville, and in March 2023, a federal district court ruled that a jury should hear his charge that school officials retaliated against him for his constitutionally protected speech.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed that ruling, finding that Josephson’s medical opinions and concerns over gender dysphoria are protected speech and that a jury can find that the school retaliated against him. As a result, university officials will now stand trial.
Josephson was represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). In a statement, Senior Counsel Travis Barham said,
“Public universities have no business punishing professors simply because they hold different views than a few colleagues or administrators. The court’s decision affirms that basic truth.
Dr. Josephson had a long and distinguished career at the University of Louisville, leading and rebuilding its child psychiatry program. On his own time, he spoke about treatments for children struggling with their sex, and the University punished him for expressing his opinion. That’s exactly what the First Amendment prohibits, and when public universities disregard our nation’s highest law, they must be held accountable.
We look forward to continuing to protect Dr. Josephson’s clearly established right to free speech and reminding all public universities that they are marketplaces of ideas.”
It is clear that immediately after Josephson made comments doubting the wisdom of rushing children into pharmaceutical and surgical transitions, his medical school colleagues were bent on retaliating against Josephson and silencing him.
They were angry and saw him as unscientific. And they were worried about his views harming the reputation of the medical school.
What’s funny is, Josephson was the only one in this controversy who was actually following science.
Medical experts in several nations have since expressed similar doubt surrounding the wisdom of gender transition treatments. For example, gender transitions in minors have now been banned in the United Kingdom, except for research purposes.
Dr. Hillary Cass wrote in her two-year review commissioned by England’s National Health Service that studies do not show a benefit to gender transition treatments. She recommended a holistic approach to gender dysphoria rather than an unquestioning view.
Evidence is mounting that medical, surgical, and even social transitions on minors are harmful. That’s what Josephson was warning 10 years ago, only he lost his job and career.
Fortunately, the Sixth Circuit has ensured that Professor Josephson will finally have his day in court — and a chance to defend his name, his reputation, his beliefs, and his right to speak freely.
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