Mayo Clinic argues it has legal right to punish professors for voicing unpopular opinions

The Mayo Clinic College of Medicine is asking a judge to dismiss three of five claims lodged by a professor suing the school, arguing it has no legal and contractual obligation to protect its faculty’s academic freedom and freedom of speech.

The clinic argues in court documents its academic freedom policy is not a binding contract with Dr. Michael Joyner, the plaintiff and longtime professor of anesthesiology. The clinic states the policy “expressly reserves to Mayo the right to regulate employees’ speech and conduct.”

On Monday, Third District Court Judge Kathy Wallace heard oral arguments from attorneys representing the clinic and Joyner, who sued the institution last November after the college punished him for sharing his contrarian views with the media on controversial topics such as COVID-19 treatments and testosterone’s effects on athletic performance.