- Ohio's Shawnee State University reached a $400,000 settlement with one of its professors.
- Nicholas Meriwether had refused to use feminine pronouns for a
transgender female student.
Ohio's Shawnee State University has agreed to pay a $400,000 settlement to one of its professors after the school disciplined him for using a transgender student's incorrect pronouns, according to the school and a news release from the professor's attorney.
Nicholas Meriwether, a philosophy professor at the Portsmouth, Ohio, university, sued trustees and officials of the school in 2018 after receiving a written warning for refusing to address a transgender student by their requested pronouns.
He accused the university of violating his First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion by disciplining him.
According to the press release from Meriwether's defense team, as a result of the settlement, 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."
A federal court initially dismissed Meriwether's
According to Meriwether's complaint, seen by Insider, Shawnee State University instituted a policy in 2016 requiring professors to call students by pronouns that match their gender identity.
Meriwether's attorneys said in the complaint that Meriwether is a practicing Christian who says that his religious beliefs include that "God created human beings as either male or female, that this gender is fixed in each person from the moment of conception, and that it cannot be changed, regardless of an individual's feelings or desires."
The attorneys said Meriwether refused to use a transgender woman's pronouns in class, saying he "was not sure he could comply with Bruening's (the student) demand and that he was not sure students can dictate how professors must refer to them."
Roberta Milliken, the then-acting dean of Shawnee State University's College of Arts & Sciences, met with the professor and suggested that he address his students by their last name instead of addressing them by their pronouns, according to the complaint.
The complaint said that Meriwether refused, saying that he would refer to every student by their pronouns except for the transgender student, whom he would address using their last name instead.
The student did not approve of the compromise, according to the lawsuit. The complaint said Milliken then threatened the professor with disciplinary action under the university's nondiscrimination clause if he did not treat his students equally.
A Title IX investigation was ultimately opened against Meriwether, concluding that he created a "hostile environment" for the transgender student, and he was disciplined with a written warning, according to the complaint.
Despite settling the case, the university denied violating the professor's freedom of speech and religion.
"Though we have decided to settle, we adamantly deny that anyone at Shawnee State deprived Dr. Meriwether of his free speech rights or his rights to freely exercise his religion," the university said in a statement.
The school also said in its statement the decision to settle the four-year-old case was "an economic decision."
"Over the course of this lawsuit it became clear that the case was being used to advance divisive social and political agendas at a cost to the university and its students," the school said. "That cost is better spent on fulfilling Shawnee State's mission of service to our students, families and community."
In a statement to Insider, Meriwether said he's relieved that he's "no longer under threat of being fired for trying to speak consistently" with his beliefs.
"The court rightly decided that my First Amendment rights were violated and vindicated these rights for all professors," Meriwether said. "No one should be forced to say something they believe is untrue and I am grateful the court has recognized that."