Rupa Marya, an Indian-American professor of medicine at the University of California, has filed a lawsuit against the educational institution, alleging that her freedom of speech was violated when she was suspended over her social media posts about the war in Gaza.
Marya’s posts showed solidarity with hospitals and healthcare workers in Gaza, accusing Israel of attacking them. She also criticised Zionism, calling it a “supremacist, racist ideology” and linking it to problems in healthcare.
Following these comments, the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) suspended her in September 2024 and temporarily revoked her clinical privileges.
The university later condemned Marya’s views as a racist conspiracy theory and warned that such ideas could harm various patient communities and the US healthcare system.
Although her clinical privileges were reinstated in October 2024, Marya was fired last month despite requesting a hearing, according to her attorney. She claimed that the university’s actions were unfair and a violation of her rights.
Court documents show that Marya faced severe harassment, including rape and death threats, due to her posts. In late 2023, the dean of UCSF’s School of Medicine informed her that her social media activity was under review for possible policy violations.
The documents also note that her posts targeted political ideologies and state policies, not any particular religious or ethnic group.
Marya completed her residency in internal medicine at UCSF in 2007 and later joined its faculty. She was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to the Healthy California for All Commission, aimed at promoting universal healthcare.
