University Agrees to Pay Professor After It Disciplined Him for Refusing to Use Student’s Preferred Pronouns
Shawnee State University settled with Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at the school, after he was disciplined for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a transgender student. According to The Hill , he…
Shawnee State University settled with Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at the school, after he was disciplined for refusing to use the preferred pronouns of a Transgender student.
According to The Hill, he sued the school over its disciplinary actions arguing his First Amendment rights were violated along with due process, the Ohio state Constitution and his contract with the school.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled the school violated Meriwether’s First Amendment rights.
The university agreed to settle with the professor following the ruling.
Meriwether will receive $400,000 in damages and his attorneys’ fees, as The Hill reported.
The school said in a statement, “After four years of litigation, Shawnee State University made an economic decision to settle the Meriwether case.”
It continues, “Though we have decided to settle, we adamantly deny that anyone at Shawnee State deprived Dr. Meriwether of his free speech rights or his rights to freely exercise his religion.”
Shawnee State claimed it “followed its policy and federal law that protects students or any individual from bigotry and discrimination.”
The university added, “We continue to stand behind a student’s right to a discrimination-free learning environment as well as the rights of faculty, visitors, students and employees to freely express their ideas and beliefs.”