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Suspended UCSF professor sues university over free speech
The UCSF reportedly labeled Marya a “possible imminent danger” based on her social media activity.
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Malvika Choudhary - Tue, 10, Jun 2025
- 15:53 EDT
- 28
Rupa Marya / rupamarya.org
An Indian-origin professor filed a lawsuit against the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), claiming that her suspension resulting from social media posts supporting Gaza violated her constitutional right to free speech.
According to court documents cited by NBC, Rupa Marya, professor of medicine at UCSF, was placed on administrative leave in September 2024 and had her clinical privileges suspended after posting a series of now-deleted messages on X in which she expressed solidarity with hospitals and healthcare workers affected by Israeli military actions in Gaza.
The posts also included criticism of Zionism, which she described as “a supremacist, racist ideology.”
Also Read: MIT bars Indian American class president over inflammatory Gaza speech
The UCSF executive medical board reportedly labeled Marya a “possible imminent danger” based on her online activity and suspended her privileges on Oct. 1, 2024. While her privileges were reinstated on Oct. 15, attorney Mark Kleiman said she was ultimately fired in May 2025, “despite requesting a hearing, which she was entitled to.”
In a particularly controversial post from September 2024, Marya raised concerns about a first-year medical student from Israel, asking whether he “participated in the genocide of Palestinians” while serving in the Israel Defense Forces. That post drew sharp criticism from state officials, including California State Senator Scott Wiener, who accused her of fostering a hostile academic environment and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.
According to NBC, Kleiman argued that Marya’s termination not only undermines her right to express political views but also poses a broader risk to others who speak out on issues of justice. He expressed confidence that the court would recognize the violation of her rights and rule in her favor.
Marya's complaint maintains that her posts were political in nature, targeting state policies and ideologies rather than any religious or ethnic group.
The court documents state she “felt an obligation to speak out and did so using her X account.” Her social media activity, the lawsuit claims, did not interfere with her professional duties or the university’s operations.
Marya, who completed her internal medicine residency at UCSF in 2007, has served in the university’s hospital medicine services for several years. She was recognized for her work in healthcare equity and was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to the Healthy California for All Commission in 2021.
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