{"id":1441549,"date":"2022-04-16T11:14:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T15:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1441549"},"modified":"2022-04-16T14:25:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T18:25:58","slug":"a-professor-was-punished-for-refusing-to-use-preferred-pronouns-he-sued-and-just-settled-for-400k","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-professor-was-punished-for-refusing-to-use-preferred-pronouns-he-sued-and-just-settled-for-400k\/","title":{"rendered":"A Professor Was Punished For Refusing To Use Preferred Pronouns. He Sued And Just Settled For $400K."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-professor-was-punished-for-refusing-to-use-preferred-pronouns-he-sued-and-just-settled-for-400k%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1441549&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1217994542.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Shawnee philosophy professor Nicholas Meriwether refused to address a male student who identifies as female by the student\u2019s preferred pronouns, instead referring to the student as \u201csir,\u201d saying that his evangelical Christian beliefs were behind his actions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo 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,\u201d Meriwether wrote in his lawsuit against the school after he was disciplined over the incident. The lawsuit also notes that Meriwether addresses students as \u201csir\u201d or \u201cMiss\u201d to show respect,\u201d The Daily Wire previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/university-reprimands-professor-not-calling-hank-berrien\">reported<\/a>. More from The Daily Wire:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cincinnati.com\/story\/news\/crime\/crime-and-courts\/2018\/11\/07\/ohio-professor-sues-doesnt-want-use-transgender-students-pronouns\/1894084002\/\">Cincinnati.com<\/a>\u00a0reported that when they met after class, Meriwether said the student circled Meriwether threateningly and compared the professor\u2019s refusal to use the student\u2019s preferred pronouns to someone calling him a \u201cc***.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>According to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/Applications\/Microsoft%20Office%202011\/Microsoft%20Word.app\/Contents\/and%20the%20student%20complained%20twice%20to%20the%20university.%20This%20prompted%20a%20Title%20IX%20investigation.\">Heavy.com<\/a>, 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\u2019s last name.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>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\u2019s preferred pronouns. The university issued a written rebuke.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In February 2020, a lower court\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/use-trans-pronouns-or-get-fired-ohio-court-tells-christian-professor\">dismissed<\/a>\u00a0Meriwether\u2019s lawsuit, writing \u201cPlaintiff\u2019s refusal to address a student in class in accordance with the student\u2019s gender identity does not implicate broader societal concerns and the free speech clause of the First Amendment under the circumstances of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Further, the court said Meriwether hadn\u2019t been forced to use speech with which he disagreed because he had been given the option to remove all gendered language from the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>Meriwether had attempted to compromise. He said he called his students by either \u201cMr.\u201d or \u201cMs.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>But in March 2021, an appeals court revived Meriwether\u2019s lawsuit and allowed it to continue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA district court previously dismissed Meriwether\u2019s lawsuit for lack of standing. Friday\u2019s 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,\u201d CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/amp.cnn.com\/cnn\/2021\/03\/29\/us\/ohio-professor-transgender-appeals-trnd\/index.html\">reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n<p>Meriwether and SSU have now settled the matter. Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Meriwether, released <a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedia.org\/case\/meriwether-v-trustees-shawnee-state-university\">a statement<\/a> saying that the university \u201cagreed to pay $400,000 in damages and Meriwether\u2019s attorneys\u2019 fees. Additionally, considering the 6th Circuit\u2019s ruling, the university is rescinding the written warning it issued Meriwether in June 2018.\u201d Further, \u201cthe 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,\u201d ADF noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis case forced us to defend what used to be a common belief\u2014that nobody should be forced to contradict their core beliefs just to keep their job,\u201d ADF Senior Counsel Travis Barham said in the press release. \u201cDr. 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\u2019t endorse an ideology that he believes is false. We\u2019re pleased to see the university recognize that the First Amendment guarantees Dr. Meriwether\u2014and every other American\u2014the right to speak and act in a manner consistent with one\u2019s faith and convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same? <u><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">Become a member now and join our mission.<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":1443701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1443701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}