A public university in southern Ohio has agreed to pay a professor US$400,000 after it disciplined him four years ago for refusing to use a transgender student's preferred pronouns, according to Shawnee State University and a news release from the professor's attorney.
Meriwether sued in 2018 after he was disciplined, and a federal district court dismissed the suit for lack of standing. Then, last year a three-judge appellate panel revived the lawsuit and sent it back to the lower court, where Meriwether could have argued his First Amendment rights of free speech and religion and his 14th Amendment right to due process were violated.
"In this case, Shawnee State followed its policy and federal law that protects students or any individual from bigotry and discrimination. 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.
The school opened a Title IX investigation against the professor, ultimately concluding Meriwether's treatment of the student created a "hostile environment," and the dean of the university's College of Arts and Sciences recommended putting a formal warning in his file. Had the behaviours continued, Meriwether was on the hook for suspension without pay or even termination, his complaint read.
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