Shawnee State U. Paying Prof $400,000 Settlement in Preferred Pronoun Case
“punished Meriwether because he declined a male student’s demand to be referred to as a woman, with feminine titles and pronouns”
This all stems from the professor refusing to use preferred pronouns. Utter craziness and a very expensive mistake for the school.
The College Fix reports:
University will pay $400K to end legal battle over preferred pronoun mandate
Professor Nicholas Meriwether at Shawnee State University cannot be forced to use someone’s preferred pronouns in violation of his Christian faith, following a settlement.
The public Ohio university must pay out $400,000 in damages and attorney’s fees to settle the case with its English and humanities professor. The case began three years ago, with Meriwether (pictured) most recently winning in court last March.
The issue began when Shawnee State “punished Meriwether because he declined a male student’s demand to be referred to as a woman, with feminine titles and pronouns,” Alliance Defending Freedom previously wrote. The professor had offered to call students by any name they chose as a compromise.
Meriwether’s attorneys at ADF announced the settlement on Thursday.
“As part of the settlement, the university has agreed that Meriwether has the right to choose when to use, or avoid using, titles or pronouns when referring to or addressing students,” the news release stated. “Significantly, the university agreed Meriwether will never be mandated to use pronouns, including if a student requests pronouns that conflict with his or her biological sex.”
“This case forced us to defend what used to be a common belief—that nobody should be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep their job,” ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham said in a statement. “Dr. Meriwether went out of his way to accommodate his students and treat them all with dignity and respect, yet his university punished him because he wouldn’t endorse an ideology that he believes is false.”
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Comments
First Oberlin, now Shawnee State. What *is* it about Ohio?
One of these each week, and rationality may again regain a beachhead.
You are such an optimist Henry.
It will only work if the assigned judge isn’t woke, and doesn’t get passed to a woke judge on appeal.
Sadly, they made this about “beliefs” instead of cold and irrefutable biological facts.
Wokeness is all about forcing other to deny reality in face of feelz.
“Beliefs” are the essence of the case. The student had one set of beliefs and expectations and the Professor held a different set of beliefs. The law protects each from being forced to accept the beliefs of the other. Common sense would lead to this result as well. The student was saying, “I want to be accepted as a woman, regardless of your religion” and the professor was saying “I want to teach you with respect but consistent with my religion.”
This isn’t about using pronouns, it’s about forced speech. In this country you can’t force someone to say things they don’t want to say.
It’s that First Amendment to the Constitution thing that separates us from the communist Chinese and the, um, Canadians.