Posted on 04/16/2022 10:37:42 AM PDT by thegagline
A Shawnee State University professor who refused to use the preferred pronouns of a male student who identifies as female has settled with his employer for $400,000 and an agreement that he will never be forced to use pronouns.
Shawnee philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether refused to address a male student who identifies as female by the student’s preferred pronouns, instead referring to the student as “sir,” saying that his evangelical Christian beliefs were behind his actions.
“To accede to these demands would have required Dr. Meriwether to communicate views regarding gender identity that he does not hold, that he does not wish to communicate, and that would contradict (and force him to violate) his sincerely held Christian beliefs,” Meriwether wrote in his lawsuit against the school after he was disciplined over the incident. The lawsuit also notes that Meriwether addresses students as “sir” or “Miss” to show respect,” The Daily Wire previously reported. More from The Daily Wire:
Cincinnati.com reported that when they met after class, Meriwether said the student circled Meriwether threateningly and compared the professor’s refusal to use the student’s preferred pronouns to someone calling him a “c***.”
According to Heavy.com, the student complained twice to the university, prompting a Title IX investigation. Heavy.com also noted that Meriwether said he would address the student using the student’s last name.
Shawnee State University started a Title IX investigation, deciding Meriwether had violated the school anti-discrimination policy when he refused to call the student by the student’s preferred pronouns. The university issued a written rebuke.
In February 2020, a lower court dismissed Meriwether’s lawsuit, writing “Plaintiff’s refusal to address a student in class in accordance with the student’s gender identity does not implicate broader societal concerns and the free speech clause of the First Amendment under the circumstances of this case.”
Further, the court said Meriwether hadn’t been forced to use speech with which he disagreed because he had been given the option to remove all gendered language from the classroom.
Meriwether had attempted to compromise. He said he called his students by either “Mr.” or “Ms.” and their last name. He offered to call the transgender student simply by their last name. The court said this was still discrimination and suggested Meriwether call all students by their last name. Meriwether refused, so the court concluded he had not been forced to express a view with which he disagreed and claimed pronouns and titles are not the same as expressing a belief.
But in March 2021, an appeals court revived Meriwether’s lawsuit and allowed it to continue.
“A district court previously dismissed Meriwether’s lawsuit for lack of standing. Friday’s decision by a three-judge panel from the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals revives the lawsuit and sends it back to a lower court where Meriwether can make his argument that his First Amendment rights of free speech and religion and his 14th Amendment right to due process were violated,” CNN reported at the time.
Meriwether and SSU have now settled the matter. Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Meriwether, released a statement saying that the university “agreed to pay $400,000 in damages and Meriwether’s attorneys’ fees. Additionally, considering the 6th Circuit’s ruling, the university is rescinding the written warning it issued Meriwether in June 2018.” Further, “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. 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,” ADF noted.
“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 the press release. “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. We’re pleased to see the university recognize that the First Amendment guarantees Dr. Meriwether—and every other American—the right to speak and act in a manner consistent with one’s faith and convictions.”
YEAH!!
Make them bastards pay!
Good to know...Cuz I ain’t doing the pronoun gig either. Insulting you...who the sh** cares...cuz you’re just making something up. Your genes tell me what you are.
Oh, goody! Sign me up! I identify as a shrewd, cautious investor. But this sounds about right, so it must be./s
A big win but a damned shame it has reached the point that is what you have to do.
Wonderful!!! This news made my day!
Simple solution to the “preferred pronoun” insanity:
Demand a blood test, XX=female / XY=male.
Ask anyone working in an HLA lab why it matters. Patient needs a kidney to survive. Checks off ‘female’ on all medical forms. Lab tech runs all possible donors and finds no match. Last minute phone call from dying patient’s doctor informing HLA lab that patient was born male and pleading to look for match. Too late, patient dies. Lab tech asks doctor: “Why didn’t you inform us earlier patient was male?” Doctor response: “I was afraid they would sue me and I would lose my license.”
Ha, ha- that is good. I personally self identify as a black female homosexual. Maybe I should add your qualifications as well. Being an honest, no-grifter, black, homosexual female would pretty much allow to do about everything without consequence. I'm kind of liking this "self-identification" business.
Maybe I should add a few inches to my height as well.
Most interesting is the description of the philosophy professor as evangelical Christian. Most folks I know in that discipline are atheist/agnostic.
I identify as a person who refuses to comply with the pronoun BS. Shut up and go away or enter level two of confrontational etiquette that I identify with.
Follow the science!
Except for sometimes.
And if such is the case, then this arguably defeats one of the main purposes of that amendment, corrupt Congress unsurprisingly asleep at the wheel on this problem.
In fact, although referenced article mentions 14A, it doesn't mention the problem of state actors abridging constitutionally enumerated personal protections.
Corrections, insights welcome.
My preferred pronouns are Your Majesty, His Majesty, and His Majesty’s.
using pronouns is like telling a schizophrenic that you hear the voices, too
His religion is nobody’s damn business in this matter, though his lawyers used it as to justify his selection of pronouns and that he remained respectful at all times. Freedom of speech means freedom of thought, and vice versa. There is no religion litmus test in order to protect one’s 1A rights. IOW, would an agnostic or atheist professor not be entitled to 1st Amendment protection?
And you can see the author is infected with this crap using bad English to accommodate these self-centered radicals: “He offered to call the transgender student simply by their last name.” Sorry - either use “he” or “its”, and even the latter would be incorrect based on the facts of the story.
English is a dynamic language. These groomers need to go invent their own words and own pronouns and try to sell it to the rest of us. We should not let them hijack the language and change the meaning of words. Else we live in Alice in Wonderland, and it’s getting that way more and more as the givernment has taken sides to persecute normal people.
words he used.
Ben Shapiro once called a man seated next to him ‘sir’ and the man physically threatened him.
Yepp, these groomers are disrespecting your creed, culture and traditions - they are bullies for whom we need to pray.
Another victory for sanity against the Satanic trash university and transvestite systems.
So sick and tired of their unified evil against decent people.
"It's MA'AM!"
Not even really far fetched.
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