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PORTSMOUTH — One Ohio university is learning what it means to ‘mind your p’s and q’s’ when it comes to conduct towards its faculty. In a recent court settlement, a philosophy professor has schooled his own employer after it harassed him over his own First Amendment rights.
After a three-year legal battle, Shawnee State University has settled and will pay a Christian Philosophy Professor $400,000 in damages and attorneys fees after disciplining him for using the wrong pronoun when addressing a transgender student who wanted to be referred to as a female.
Dr. Nick Meriwether believes God created only genders, male and female, which are determined by a person’s biology.
In the spring of 2018, while teaching his class, a male student raised his hand to ask a question and the professor responded with “Yes, sir.” After the class was over, the student approached Dr. Meriwether, identified himself as a woman, and insisted that the professor address him in that manner.
Dr. Meriwether, who refers to all of his students as “sir,” “ma’am,” “Mr.,” or “Miss,” offered to use the student’s first or last name instead, but this did not satisfy university administrators or the student.
Roberta Milliken, acting Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, launched an investigation into the matter and formally charged Dr. Meriwether with causing “a hostile environment” in his classroom for refusing to violate his religious beliefs. Meriwether received a written warning in his personal file, and was threatened with “further corrective actions” if he did not refer to students using pronouns that reflect their self-asserted gender identity.
“I was going to be punished, not for something what I was doing, but for something that I would not do, and that was affirm the ender identity ideology. It was really about compelling me to speak in a way that conflicted with my beliefs as a Christian and and a philosopher.
Philosophy professor nick meriwether, phd.
Dr. Meriwether submitted a grievance request to the union, arguing the university violated his religious conscience. The professor met with a school administrator and union representative to explain how his religious freedom was being corroded. According to the lawsuit, they “openly laughed” at Meriwether’s religious convictions and denied his grievance request.
Represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, Dr. Meriwether comments, “I was going to be punished, not for something what I was doing, but for something that I would not do, and that was affirm the gender identity ideology. It was really about compelling me to speak in a way that conflicted with my beliefs as a Christian and and a philosopher.”
While the court ruling says Shawnee State punished the professor for his speech on a hotly-contested issue, the University denies anyone at Shawnee State deprived Dr. Meriwether of his free speech rights or his rights to freely exercise his religion.
As part of the settlement, Shawnee State has agreed that Dr. Meriwether has the right to choose when to use, or avoid using, titles or pronouns when referring to or addressing students. The school has also agreed Meriwether will never be mandated to use pronouns, including if a student requests pronouns that conflict with his or her biological sex.
View the video below produced by Alliance Defending Freedom (6 min. length)
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The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Proverbs 13, “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.”
